On a night in which the Los Angeles Lakers needed Anthony Davis to step up and lead the way, he did exactly that.
LeBron James was held out on Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena due to a left calf contusion he sustained on Friday. It meant the team was in an all-hands-on-deck situation where Davis needed to play near the top of his potential.
With 30 points on 10-of-20 field-goal shooting and 10-of-12 from the free throw line, 13 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots, Davis did exactly what he needed to do in order to get his team a 116-110 victory, even if it wasn’t the prettiest of wins.
Austin Reaves also helped out with 18 points and four assists in 28 minutes, and the undrafted guard gave Davis his flowers.
When the superstar big man sat out on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, his presence was sorely missed in the paint on both ends of the floor and on the boards. On that night, L.A. got outrebounded 57-34 and was outscored in the paint 68-42.
But on Sunday, the team had a three-rebound advantage over Portland while outscoring its visitors by 20 in the paint.
When the superstar big man sat out on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, his presence was sorely missed in the paint on both ends of the floor and on the boards. On that night, L.A. got outrebounded 57-34 and was outscored in the paint 68-42.
Yahoo sports reports that Davis came back into the game right then and there to help restore order. He did his part to make sure the Lakers stayed in control of the game, scoring nine points in the fourth, grabbing four rebounds, handing out one assist and making all three of his free throws.
“For me personally, I just wanted to be back in the game and get control of the game again,” Davis said
He played 41 minutes and was a plus-17 in the plus-minus department.
More important, when the Lakers began to waver in the fourth quarter, Davis wouldn’t let his team down.
He scored on a left-handed shot, converted a three-point play with a basket and free throw, made two free throws, scored in the post and assisted on a basket by Rui Hachimura to help the Lakers close out the game.
“We weren’t getting good looks offensively. We were forcing shots or no-pass shots, things like that. So, I just see that going on, I walked to the table and checked myself in,” Davis said.