Anthony Davis is back.

Rusty, no doubt. But back.

Following a two-month absence, Davis made his long-awaited return to the Los Angeles Lakers' starting lineup on Thursday.

Davis said he felt “100 percent healthy” on Wednesday, yet Frank Vogel kept his word and capped his workload at 17 first-half minutes in L.A.'s 115-110 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

In a way, the Lakers treated the game like a preseason contest, as Davis ramps up his conditioning and begins reintegrating with his teammates — now including Andre Drummond — with 13 games remaining in the season.

“Today was a trial game for us,” Drummond said. “Seeing how he fits out there with myself … trying to build that chemistry. We don’t really have a lot of time to do this, so we gotta do it with the time we have now.”

On the other hand, the Lakers (35-24) sit 2.5 games ahead of the Mavericks (32-26) for the play-in tournament and will face them again on Saturday.

The Lakers lost 16 of the past 30 games without AD — a stretch was not without silver linings.

“I was able to get a break … knowing that I wasn’t gonna be playing for a while,” Davis admitted. “Mentally reset and use that time to go through the summertime that I didn’t have because of the shorter break. I was able to use that time to really getaway in a sense … it was good for me. Now it’s time to get back to work with the guys and fight for another championship.”

So, how’d AD look at first glance? Here are five observations.

1) He's already opening things up

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's April heat wave hit Dallas, as he drained at least five triples for the third straight game and scored 29 points.

“KCP’s been playing this way for a few weeks now. I love it,” Vogel said. “I think that’s something that can carry over to when we’re whole.”

Caldwell-Pope credited Anthony Davis' ability to draw attention.

“The floor is gonna open up big-time,” KCP said. “We already seen when we was posting AD tonight they was doubling, so that swing-swing is gonna be there.”

AD's lone assist came on a kickout to his other new teammate, Ben McLemore.

If the Lakers' floor spacers continue filling it up, they'll make it that much harder for teams to load up on Davis. It feels like eons ago, but the Lakers had a top-ranked offense in January.

2) How’d Davis fit with Drummond?

Too early to tell, but it was certainly exciting for both players to lace it up together.

“We’re continuously talking and trying to figure things out,” Anthony Davis said about Drummond. “He’s asking questions. I’m trying to direct him where I want him to be. … It’s going to take time, but we’ll figure it out.”

Drummond, who posted 14 points, 19 rebounds, and three blocks, knows he'll benefit from AD's presence, too.

“Being on the same court of AD has freed the game up for me a lot to do some of the things that I’m very good at, which is rebounding. Cause the focus is all on him when he has the ball,” Drummond said. “They’re leaving the best rebounder in the NBA wide open, so any shot he misses and I’m right there to clean it up. … You seen I got the spray-out 3 for Kentavious.”

FWIW, Davis was a minus-6 in just over five minutes with Montrezl Harrell and minus-5 in over 11 minutes with Drummond.

Davis also resumed building chemistry with Schröder, with whom he has only played 24 games (and who knows how much CoD).

“Me, personally, in the first half, was just trying to find him and give him a good rhythm,” Schröder said.

In the third quarter, the Lakers' ball movement picked up as Davis sat, and they put together an impressive 39-point third quarter, led by Schröder.

“They were two different halves, for sure,” Vogel said. “But any time you integrate a player of that caliber, there’s going to be an adjustment period. … That’s just part of what we have to go to during this stretch.”

“I’m just glad he’s out there again, and he’s going to find his rhythm, probably on Saturday,” Schroder said. “But I love to see him out there being healthy, he worked hard to get back.”

Schröder is looking forward to meshing with Davis and Drummond.

“I think we have some good plays for it: AD setting the screen and Dre being in the dunker when I hit AD in the pocket pass where he can finish or lob it to Dre. … I think it's gonna be just fine.”

3) He's still good at defense

It didn't take long for Anthony Davis to make an impact on the defensive end.

“Our defense was really good to start the game,” Davis said. “We were really talking, flying around. … That’s the good thing of having another defensive player out there in Drum.”

In one sequence, Davis made an impressive block on the jumper of 7-foot-3 Porzingis, then successfully hounded Doncic into the corner for a miss on the next play.

https://twitter.com/LA_HighLights24/status/1385425715806437383

KCP said the Lakers specifically missed Davis' “shot-blocking ability,” and “ability to defend three guards on the perimeter when we do switch.”

“He impacts the game on both ends, but his defense was great,” Vogel said. “He picked up right where he left off. I think he’s the best defensive player in the league when he’s got his legs under him.”

4) The offense was shakier

Anthony Davis tried to work out the kinks ASAP and maximize his minutes.

On the first two possessions, he clanged long jumpers. He bricked his third attempt, then missed two shots at the rim.

“I got good looks, I missed,” he said. “Obviously, that comes with time.”

Finally, with 4:45 left in the first quarter, Davis patiently moseyed into a step-back J.

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Not long after, he barbecued Dorian Finney-Smith on the left block with a drop-step spin and lay-in.

There were miscues. He fumbled a pocket pass from Kyle Kuzma. He airmailed a kickout. He shot 2-of-10 from the field, missed an open 3, and both free-throw attempts.

Davis said his teammates pushed him to keep firing.

“That was the reassuring part … knowing they wanted me to shoot the ball.”

“I thought he had a little bit of rust, but he played extremely well,” Vogel assessed.

5) Davis is healthy, and that's a reason to rejoice

In general, Anthony Davis moved smoothly and seemed less hesitant by the possession. He hit the deck a few times and even had Finney-Smith fall on him.

Ultimately, the calf wasn't a factor, and that's the most encouraging development.

“I didn’t think about it one time tonight,” Davis said. “Honestly, I just went out there and played. It kind of limits what you do if you’re out there thinking about your injury. … Go out there and just have fun, be excited to be back on the floor, that was my main thing.”

Vogel said Davis’ workload on Saturday will be “predicated on how he responds” to treatment.

“Tonight was about just the excitement about what’s ahead of us,” Vogel said. “Even though we lost, it was a really positive night for the Lakers in terms of where we’re going.”

It was an abbreviated appearance and it wasn't always pretty, but Davis back in that purple-and-gold uniform was an overdue and welcome sight for the locker room and the fans.

“Seeing him walk into the game, go out and warm up, get dressed with us, the energy was a little different just knowing he was back. … We needed that a little bit, that energy,” Caldwell-Pope said.

“Then we got one more guy we need to get healthy.”