Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis can be a lightning rod for criticism, especially when he has a subpar game, as he did on Tuesday in his team’s season opener versus the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets. In that game, he had a solid first half, but he was practically a no-show after that. He went scoreless in the second half of a 119-107 loss.
It led to the usual criticism of Davis, as pundits claimed he wasn’t worthy of being the team’s No. 1 option on offense.
But as he usually seems to do, he bounced back strongly in his next game and silenced those critics. On Thursday, he put up 30 points on 10-of-17 field-goal shooting and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, 12 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. Thanks largely to Davis’ dominance, the Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns, 100-95, in a hard-earned victory.
Former big man and current ESPN personality Kendrick Perkins defended Davis on Friday’s episode of “First Take,” saying the Lakers don’t have any problems with Davis. In fact, Perkins said he has a problem with anyone who has a problem with Davis (h/t The Cold Wire).
.@KendrickPerkins has a problem with anyone who has a problem with AD đź‘€
"The Lakers don't have an AD problem. … He has shown us time and time again that he's capable of rising to the occasion and getting things done." pic.twitter.com/tyJTdaVUbx
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 27, 2023
Davis had a mediocre (by his standards) 11 points in the first half on Thursday, but he exploded for 13 points in the final quarter when L.A. overcame a 12-point deficit and snatched control of the game. The big change the team made was to get him the ball in the low post and in the paint more often, rather than simply give him the ball on the wing or the perimeter in iso situations and allow the Suns to load up on him defensively.