Lakers News: Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook Take Over With One of the Big Three Out
The Lakers had to get things done without LeBron James on Tuesday night. Just 2 days after James had his ankle rolled up on in a win over the Grizzlies, Frank Vogel had him on the sidelines in street clothes.
That left things up to Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis to get things going. And did they ever get things going for Los Angeles.
Westbrook finished with 33 points and finished 2 assists away from a triple-double. Davis put up 35 points of his own to go along with 17 boards.
When asked after the game if him and Russ felt the need to take over with LBJ out, Davis said it wasn't exactly on purpose.
I mean, just consciously, the Big Three and one is out so we kind of have to pick up that slack. But we never say, ‘All right Russ, it’s on me and you tonight.’ Team never said it. It’s just something that kind of happens. But I told Russ, I said, ‘whether I play, Bron play, we don’t play, it doesn’t matter. You still got to be yourself.’ And he did that tonight. The way he played tonight was incredible. And we need that from him every night, no matter if Bron is playing or not.
Granted, it took an extra quarter for the Lakers to pull one out against a relatively bad Spurs team. But Westbrook showed exactly why he was brought in to Los Angeles.
At any point during the year, missing Anthony Davis or Lebron James should not hurt them as badly as it did last season. Russ can fit in anywhere and flat out score points when it matters the most.
