Category: NBA Basketball

Report: Anthony Davis expected to sit out Wednesday vs. Warriors

The Los Angeles Lakers star forward will miss the game due to a variety of injuries, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

If the Los Angeles Lakers are going to close out their back-to-back with a win on Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors, they’re likely going to do it without superstar forward Anthony Davis.

Davis, who was hit in the ribs during Tuesday night’s win at Phoenix and has been dealing with a sore right shoulder since the first week of the season, is expected to miss Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Turner also added that x-rays came back negative on Davis’ rib cage.

While the Warriors have proven that they can play competitive ball even with a depleted unit, the Lakers also recognize that it’s not the right time to have Davis play through the pain against a 2-9 team that plays minimal defense. It’s also a little bit easier for Davis to take a night to heal now that the Lakers have Kyle Kuzma back healthy.

Kuzma had 23 points in Tuesday’s win at Phoenix, including a couple of huge 3-pointers in the closing moments top seal the game and is a logical choice to slot in for Davis in the starting line-up later tonight against Golden State.

 

Lakers back home to host banged up Warriors on Wednesday night

The Los Angeles Lakers will look to cap off a winning back-to-back when they host Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors.

The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back in a big way with Tuesday night’s road victory over the Phoenix Suns and now they’ll look to ride that wave, even as Anthony Davis deals with sore ribs, as they host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night back at Staples Center.

The Warriors look way different, even compared to the last time these two teams saw each other in the preseason. Stephen Curry suffered a broken left hand a little less than two weeks ago and the Warriors also dealt with less severe injuries to Draymond Green and D’Angelo Russell. Russell and Green are now back, but serious issues for the Warriors remain as it already looks like a lost season for them at 2-9.

Still, the Warriors have had some bright spots over that same time. They won their first game at Chase Center against the Portland Trail Blazers last week thanks to a 36-point performance from second round pick Eric Paschall. D’Angelo Russell also notched 52 points in a valiant effort where the Warriors lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime.

The Warriors should be overmatched in this game against the Lakers but with L.A. playing a tough game against the Suns last night, they need to be prepared for a pumped up Warriors team trying to show out in an ESPN-televised affair.

Kyle Kuzma hits huge shots to help Lakers rally past Suns

LeBron James and Anthony Davis both had double-doubles as they held off the Phoenix Suns for a win on Tuesday night.

Anthony Davis had 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists,  LeBron James had 19 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, while Kyle Kuzma had 23 points off the bench as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns 123-115 on Tuesday night.

The Suns had three players score 20 points or more (Aron Baynes, Ricky Rubio, Devin Booker) but that wasn’t enough as Kuzma and Green hit big shots from the outside to support their stars.

Davis didn’t appear to be bothered too much by the shoulder issue as he totaled 14 points, five rebounds and three assists in the first half while the Lakers nursed a 60-58 lead at halftime.

Even though Rondo was back in the lineup, LeBron James didn’t look like he would slow down his role as distributor with nine assists to go with eight points in the first half. Rondo played 14 minutes and finished with five points, seven assists and six rebounds in his debut.

The Suns stayed in the game in large part thanks to the 3-point shot, scoring 58 points on what had been the best defense in the league. They shot 8-16 from the 3-point line in the first half with their role players mostly doing the job as Aron Baynes, Ricky Rubio and Frank Kaminsky each hit multiple 3-pointers in the first half. However, they cooled off considerably in the second half.

Kuzma provided a big spark for the Lakers off the bench, having his first breakout game of the season in Phoenix. He had 13 first half points including a personal 6-0 run to close the first quarter to cut the Suns lead from nine to just three in 57.2 seconds of game time. He also closed out the game two two big 3-pointers in the final minutes.

A huge 3-pointer by Kuzma with 2:10 left pushed the Lakers lead to 117-113, giving the Lakers the opportunity to play from ahead in the last two minutes. And then Kuzma hit another with 1:40 left to put the Lakers up by seven points.

The Lakers head back to L.A. as they will face a short-handed Golden State Warriors crew on Wednesday night at Staples Center.

Lakers look to bounce back as they visit impressive Suns squad

Following Tuesday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, the Los Angeles Lakers look for a quality road win on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns.

The Los Angeles Lakers were finally reminded what it feels like to lose on Sunday night and the right shoulder of Anthony Davis started to bother him a little bit more, but life in the Western Conference often means getting to leave a loss behind to face a challenge of even greater difficulty. Tuesday night, the Lakers will get that chance as they visit a surprisingly strong Phoenix Suns squad.

After nine games, the Suns have a 6-3 record and are in 6th place in the Western Conference. And they’ve done with two-way excellence that hasn’t been found from most teams in the league through the first three weeks of the season. According to Cleaning The Glass, which eliminates garbage time, the Suns have the 8th ranked defense and the 4th ranked offense in the league so far.

The biggest change of all started with the hiring of head coach Monty Williams, but the Suns front office is also reaping the benefits of offseason moves like their trade for center Aron Baynes and signing free agent point guard Ricky Rubio. Kelly Oubre Jr., who they traded for last season from the Wizards, is having an excellent start to his season as well. The added help has led to Devin Booker’s best all-around start as a pro, as he looks primed for his first All-Star berth.

Off the bench, Frank Kaminsky, Tyler Johnson and Mikal Bridges all create plenty of problems for their opponents. To avoid a result like Sunday, the Lakers bench must play better than they did against Toronto against a strong Suns second unit.

Tuesday night won’t be easy for the Lakers and Anthony Davis may still be dealing with some pain in his shoulder. But sometimes that dose of reality is what you need to see a contender show you who they are.

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LeBron James becomes first Lakers to get 4 triple-double in 1st 10 games

LeBron James made more franchise history for the Los Angeles Lakers even in their first loss in eight games.

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Sunday night was the first time in two weeks that the Los Angeles Lakers felt what it was like to lose as the Toronto Raptors used a huge second half to end the Lakers seven-game win-streak. But even in the loss, LeBron James managed to make a small bit of Lakers history with his play.

With 13 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds, James recorded his fourth triple-double of the season. James became the first player in Lakers franchise history to record four triple-doubles in the first 10 games of the season. Interestingly enough, Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic has also accomplished the same feat this season. The Lakers still have one game left before they get to 10 as they sit at 7-2 after nine games.

Although James gets into the history books for the Lakers, he had a particularly bad night in his attempts to score the ball against a rangy and athletic Raptors front court. James was 5-15 from the field on Sunday and an uncharacteristic 3-6 from the free-throw line.

LeBron and the Lakers will head to Phoenix on Tuesday for a quick trip before returning to L.A. on Wednesday to face the Golden State Warriors.