Even after they shocked the basketball world by defeating the Boston Celtics, 114-105, on Thursday without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers remain an enigma.
They have ample talent, at least on the offensive end, but they have failed to play to their potential on a consistent basis this season.
With their win versus Boston, they improved to 25-25 and remain in ninth place in the Western Conference. Although the Lakers’ season still seems to be teetering on the brink of disaster, Davis said prior to Thursday’s win they aren’t far from where they want to be (h/t Lakers Nation).
“You keep looking at the standings, what are we, 10th? Ninth or 10th? Four games, five games from being fifth or sixth. We’re not (that far) off. Like he said, we are capable enough to beat anybody in this league on any given night and we’re also capable of losing to anybody in this league on any given night. We just got to put a stretch of games together where we play good basketball, obviously we want to win basketball games to try to close that gap. Get everybody healthy and try to make a run.”
Davis’ statement echoed LeBron James’ statement after the team’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday when James said the team is good enough to beat any team but also capable of getting embarrassed by any team.
Thursday’s win brought L.A. to within four games of the Sacramento Kings, who are in fifth place in the West. After its six-game road trip wraps up, 15 of its 19 subsequent games will take place at Crypto.com Arena, which will give it a great opportunity to climb the standings.