Anthony Davis appeared confident of Game 6 return during Tuesday's loss

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis certainly appears confident that he will be able to play in the team’s do-or-die Game 6 on Thursday.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Davis gave a signal of optimism that he would be back quickly during the team’s blowout loss in Game 5. Coming out of a timeout, Davis glanced at someone sitting courtside, nodded and held up six fingers, suggesting that he would be good to go for Game 6.

Of course, there’s a difference between optimism and reality sometimes, and it remains to be seen how Davis’ left groin responds ahead of Thursday’s game. Davis could be seen wincing during a pregame workout while testing the injury, and it was quite clear he didn’t come particularly close to playing in Game 5. That is despite Davis telling teammates he was going to push to play leading up to that game, only to be ruled out when he obviously couldn’t go.

The Lakers will probably need Davis in Game 6, as the team’s supporting cast was not up to the challenge in Game 5. Plus, Davis will no doubt want to silence some of his critics, but ultimately, it’s not totally up to him how he’ll feel come Thursday.