Lakers News: Anthony Davis Shooting Career-Best Field Goal Percentage
After a slow start to the 2022-23 season where he appeared to be hampered by a sore lower back, Los Angeles Lakers All-Star center Anthony Davis has upped his game in a big of late. Thanks in large part to AD, L.A. is currently riding a three-game win streak. Granted, none of L.A.'s three victims (in reverse chronological order: the San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons or Brooklyn Nets) sports a record above .500, but the numbers are still solid. Davis has scored 30 or more points and grabbed 16 or more rebounds in each of the last three contests.
For the season, Davis is averaging 25.6 points, 12 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.4 steals a night.
The most exciting part of all this, aside from a seemingly rejuvenated Anthony Davis (aside from his jump shooting, which has abandoned him), is that Davis is shooting at a career-best field goal rate thus far: 55.4%. In terms of his average shot distance, Davis is at just 7.2 feet from the rim, one of the closest lengths in the league.
"Big Shot" Robert Horry, the former Lakers power forward who won three of his seven NBA titles with the Shaqobe Lakers from 2000-2002, is now serving as a Lakers commentator for Spectrum SportsNet. He unpacked how Davis has reached this new benchmark in efficiency: by shooting closer to the bucket.
The Brow has leaned into his new full-time gig as the Lakers' center, moving away from his more mobile ball-handling ways that made him such a unique player while with the New Orleans Pelicans. Davis is using his length and size to body up opposing defenders in the interior, and he's been getting a lot more looks lately, with All-Star Lakers forward LeBron James sidelined due to a left adductor strain.
