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 to get his team a 116-110 victory, even if it wasn’t the prettiest of wins.
Austin Reaves helped out with 18 points and four assists in 28 minutes, and the undrafted guard gave Davis his flowers.
Austin Reaves on AD's performance tonight: "I seen the fro back tonight so I thought this is gonna be a good day for him… any time you got Anthony Davis you have a chance. He changes the game." pic.twitter.com/OpevTawleC
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 13, 2023
“I seen the fro back tonight, so I thought this is gonna be a good day for him… any time you got Anthony Davis you have a chance. He changes the game — in so many ways that the stat sheet doesn’t even show.”
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. was 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.