When Anthony Davis returned to game action in late January after missing several weeks with a right foot stress injury, he initially looked a little bit tentative, almost as if he was conscious of not aggravating the ailment.
But after a while, he regained his rhythm, and he dropped some dominant games with relative regularity the rest of the way.
In March and April, Davis averaged 26.2 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots per game while shooting 56.9 percent from the field, and it allowed the Lakers to go 14-6, which was tied for the best record in the NBA during that span with the Philadelphia 76ers.
It earned him the Western Conference Player of the Month award for games played in March and April, which marks his first Player of the Month honor.
Eleven double-doubles, a league-leading 12.5 boards a game, & a forty-piece for your Player of the Month 〰 pic.twitter.com/0hFmyXOebJ
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 11, 2023
In the 18 games he played during that period, Davis scored at least 30 points eight times and had four games with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds.
It has capped arguably his best season ever. The superstar big man finished the campaign averaging 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2 blocks a game while hitting 56.3% of his shots. His rebounding average and shooting percentage were career-highs, and he even led the league in rebounding average, although he fell just short of the minimum required games to officially be recognized as the leader in that category.
With the play-in tournament and possibly the playoffs beckoning for L.A., now is the time for Davis to continue his dominance and further silence his critics.
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