Lakers News: Anthony Davis Awakens To Dominate Nets, L.A. Wins 116-103
Well, it happened.
Your Los Angeles Lakers actually won a game! Against a decent Brooklyn Nets team! With LeBron James sidelined!
Anthony Davis exploited the Nets' undersized frontcourt, which thinned out even more after starting center Nicolas Claxton left with a left eye contusion.
The Nets surrendered 116 points this evening, having not given up any more than 100 points across their past five contests. The final margin: 116-103.
With the victory, the Lakers' record improved to a still-bad 3-10. The Nets are now 6-8 following the loss.
Davis knew he had to be assertive and look for his offense early and often against Brooklyn. The only real threat for the Nets all night was All-NBA forward Kevin Durant, and though he delivered, his colleagues struggled to score against Los Angeles.
Brooklyn was without star point guard Kyrie Irving, reserve Ben Simmons, and sharpshooter Seth Curry.
He wasted little time getting cooking in the first period, scoring eight of the Lakers' first 22 points, and frequently getting inside against the smaller Nets frontcourt.
The most satisfying moment of the night for sixth man Russell Westbrook, re-branded as a fan favorite in his new role, was probably this block of his old Oklahoma City Thunder pal Durant:
Here's the block as captured in broadcast footage:
Davis would not be denied inside, taking a majority of his field goal tries in the interior. The Lakers led at the end of the first half up nine, 55-46.
Los Angeles looked to get Davis going early to start the second half, with this nice lob pass to Anthony Davis courtesy of second-year guard Austin Reaves:
In a huge break for L.A., Brooklyn's only good center, Nicolas Claxton, suffered his aforementioned eye contusion with 8:32 remaining in the third quarter.
Davis was a problem all game. And Russell Westbrook knew to look for him at almost every opportunity:
After trailing by as many as 16 points, the Nets went on a quick 16-3 run to shave the Lakers' lead down to just three, 80-77. Davis had 31 points and 14 rebounds through just the first three quarters.
Nets All-Star Kevin Durant opted to forego his standard rest to kick off the game's fourth quarter, hoping to help the team make a final push.
The Lakers strived to not choke away another late-game lead tonight, as has been the case far too often recently. Russell Westbrook was on the attack early in the frame, sprinting inside for this nasty slam:
On the next possession, Westbrook then took advantage of his driving abilities yet again, this time finding Troy Brown Jr. for a corner triple.
The game stayed close through the first few moments of the fourth quarter with Davis on the bench, getting within four points, 91-87, with Davis subbing in for Wenyen Gabriel at the 8:28 mark of the frame. With Davis back in the fold Los Angeles instantly went on a 14-0 run, effectively clinching the contest. Davis pick-and-rolls especially brutalized the Nets in the period.
Davis finished with 37 points on 15-of-25 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. The 6'10" big man pulled down 18 (!) rebounds, including a career-most 10 offensive boards. That mark was more than the entire Nets club managed to do, as StatMuse notes.
Lakers shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV made his presence felt, too, scoring 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Reaves finished with 15 points, while Westbrook contributed 14 points, 12 assists and six rebounds off the bench.
LeBron James could be seen chatting up former 2020 Lakers champ Markieff Morris courtside after Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." blasted over the Crypto.com Arena loudspeakers.
