For 15 minutes against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, and with 14 games left in the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to welcome back Anthony Davis to the lineup.

L.A. scrapped and clawed without AD, who's been out since Feb. 14 after re-aggravating his calf/Achilles. In his wake, the remaining Lakers won 14 of 30 games, the final 16 coming without LeBron James.

Things aren't quite the same in Lakerland. In the 66 days since Davis last played, L.A. signed Andre Drummond and Ben McLemore, welcomed fans back to Staples Center, and dealt with a rash of ailments.

“We’re going to continue to fight,” Davis said in his media session on Wednesday. “The guys have done a great job of making sure that we’ve stayed in the fight while LeBron and myself have been out. And now that I’m near a return … it’s going to be my job to try to help the team stay afloat until he comes back as well and stay fighting.”

Minus the absence of James, Davis will be re-joining a different – and arguably better — Lakers team than he last played with. Here are few reasons why.

1) The defense is an institution

James is the Lakers' lead communicator on defense, and Davis is their best defensive player. Yet, despite their absences, the Lakers rank no. 1 in defensive efficiency.

That stinginess is a testament to individual talent, intelligent coaching, and tenacity embodied by Dennis Schröder. Frankly, the Lakers have no serious liabilities in their rotation (Montrezl Harrell has defended well amid an offensive slump.)

This short-handed stretch has proven that defensive excellence is ensconced into their DNA, no matter whose out there. With Drummond providing a Dwight Howard/JaVale McGee-like presence alongside Davis, this group has the potential to be a historically dominant defense in the playoffs.

2) More opportunities to go around

This window has also allowed Vogel and his staff to ask supporting players to step into bigger roles.

Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Markieff Morris, and Talen Horton-Tucker have been asked to guard stars that Davis or James might normally check. For the most part, whoever has been called upon has stepped up.

On offense, they've mined every resource for points.

“We talked all along about the silver lining in other guys getting added opportunities, and finding more creative ways to use them offensively,” Vogel said last week. “That’s definitely going to be a silver lining for the guys that have been playing.”

Ahead of the April 8 meeting with the Miami Heat, Vogel challenged Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to score 25 points. KCP responded with a season-best 28.

“We want him to be that aggressive and again, this could be one of those silver lining things where we get more out of him offensively when those guys come back when he gets in this kind of rhythm,” Vogel said.

In the past 30 games without AD, the Lakers posted a +1.0 net rating. All things considered, that's a win.

3) Outside improvement

The Lakers' shooting cooled after a blazing start, as KCP, Alex Caruso, and Wesley Matthews regressed. Marc Gasol shot below-average on (almost) exclusively open looks, and LeBron hit a wall before the All-Star break.

By their own admission, the Lakers needed to take and make more triples to tread water. Right on cue, they have emerged from their winter shooting slumber into April showers. Over the past 10 games, L.A. has awoken to splash 39.7 percent from deep, fourth-best in the NBA.

So far in April, Caldwell-Pope has hit a scorching 49.2% of his 6.3 three-point attempts per game, while Caruso has drained 54.2%.

Horton-Tucker has bloomed, too. Since not being traded for Kyle Lowry, the 20-year old has validated the organization's bullish attitude.

THT is averaging 13.1 PPG this month, up from 7.9 PPG. He’s looked smoother and more confident with his jump shot, as his all-around game continues to round out — including, crucially, his decision-making on paint attacks.

The Lakers call Horton-Tucker a “sponge,” and with good reason. Considering the pace of his development, it's evident he turns information into implementation quickly.

“I feel like pretty much everybody is in my ear,” Horton-Tucker said. “Everybody is trying to tell me, I feel like, the right thing that they think that I should do and just tell me what they see. And I’m open to all input I get and I’m appreciative that they’re taking the time out to just help me because you don’t always get that.”

Horton-Tucker was a bright spot in their 111-97 loss to the Jazz on Monday, setting a career-high with 24 points.

4) They might’ve solved another problem

The Lakers ranked 26th in turnovers when Davis strained his calf. Regardless of who suited up, carelessness had been a season-long talking point.

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Not so in recent days. Since Schroder pledged to clean up the act following the team's season-high 25 turnovers in an April 12 loss to the New York Knicks, L.A. has surrendered the rock only 11 times per game, and rank fourth in the league in turnover percentage.

The Lakers have a greater margin of error with Davis and/or James on the court, but there’s never a bad time to build good habits — especially with the playoffs less than a month away.

5) Rest

Davis has remained engaged as a de facto coaching intern, while James has been an active cheerleader on the Lakers sideline.

“I think that’s how I stayed engaged, and kind of got my fix of not being able to play,” Davis said Wednesday. “Just being in the gym with the guys and the games, breaking down the games and different plays for the guys and helping them learn, and it kind of helped me become a better leader as well – like a vocal leader talking to the guys, and helping them out.”

That's been a productive use of the mental energy from Davis and James, but it doesn't take the same toll as playing every night. Far be it from me to tell LeBron James how to approach basketball, but I wasn't the only person a bit surprised by his stubborn foot-on-the-gas, I-want-a-fifth-MVP mentality throughout his 18th campaign.

Prolonged late-season rest isn't the worst thing. I can't prove this, but I'd surmise that if you doled out truth serum, some folks in the Lakers front office might admit to not totally minding a forced mental and physical reprieve (especially in a largely fan-less season) for the superstars, assuming neither injury re-surfaces.

“There’s a silver lining in what’s happening with us right now with these guys getting extended minutes to get a rhythm and get comfortable in our system while Bron and AD, hopefully, if they’re able to come back healthy, will be mentally fresh and rested,” Vogel said. “There’s some positives to what we’re going through. It’s not fun in the moment. But we’re definitely encouraged with what we’re going to be able to do down the stretch and in the playoffs.”

Conveniently, the Lakers are getting healthier as many of their competitors limp to the finish line.

“A lot of guys around the league aren’t healthy,” Davis said. “For us, for the most part, to be healthy…I think we put ourselves in a good position.”

It wasn't always easy or pretty, but the Lakers have successfully weathered the storm. Now, the defending champions could be refreshed, recharged, and reinforced just in time for playoff basketball.