Tag: NBA Basketball

Lakers star Anthony Davis says shoulder is ‘better, getting back to 100%’

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis believes that his shoulder is getting better even though he’s dealt with some discomfort.

The Los Angeles Lakers are back on the court Tuesday night as they’ll face off against Chris Paul and the Oklahoma City Thunder who are playing on the second night of a back-to-back following last night’s loss to the L.A. Clippers. But a potentially beleaguered Thunder team wasn’t one of the only positives to come out prior to Tuesday’s match-up. It appears one of their stars was feeling even better at Lakers shoot around on Tuesday morning.

Anthony Davis says that his shoulder his ‘recovering’ and that he’s getting “closer to 100%,” according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. Davis injured his right shoulder earlier in the season coming up short on a dunk attempt and appeared to tweak it in a game a few weeks later.

While it’s impossible to know how connected the two are, Davis having an issue with the shoulder connected to his shooting hand has coincided with a drop in his shooting efficiency. Davis has gone on the record to say that he doesn’t care about getting shots and cares more about winning games, but his shoulder feeling better could be a sign of an improvement to come for Davis when it comes to shooting the ball.

Considering the Lakers already have an NBA-best 11-2 record and the best defense in the NBA, that prospect is a scary one for the rest of the league.

LeBron ‘looking forward’ to seeing Carmelo Anthony’s Blazers debut

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have a game shortly after Carmelo Anthony makes his debut for the Portland Trail Blazers.

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LeBron James isn’t sure he will be able to catch it but perhaps more than most people in the basketball world, he will be glued to his phone looking for highlights as Carmelo Anthony makes his return to the NBA later this evening as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Anthony and the Blazers, who will be without Damian Lillard on Tuesday night when they face the New Orleans Pelicans, will tip-off about two hours before the Los Angeles Lakers are set to face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center. Because of that, James thinks he’ll just have to settle for the highlights, which is exciting enough for him and several others.

LeBron says he believes Anthony will try to take “full advantage” of the opportunity, according to Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group.

James has been an advocate of Anthony being in the league, even if it ultimately couldn’t happen on the Lakers. Given Anthony Davis’ preference to play power forward as well as the presence of Kyle Kuzma, Anthony’s role on the Lakers would have been too redundant to really make a big difference.

With the Blazers, a team that is both injured and lacking in the front court, the future Hall of Fame forward will get a chance to exit the NBA on his own terms. While LeBron said his career is far from over, after seeing his friend Dwyane Wade retire last season, he’s got to be hoping for Anthony to have a similar ride off into the sunset.

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Success in the post is helping fuel the Los Angeles Lakers offense

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are posting up a lot, which is working out very well for the Los Angeles Lakers offensive attack.

The Los Angeles Lakers are having a better start than many anticipated from them, even with a home-heavy schedule hosting a lot of the teams who are expected to be at the bottom of the league by season’s end. The defense, in particular, has been the biggest headline as they currently lead the NBA in defensive rating.

But over the last few weeks as they’ve maintained that defensive excellence, the Lakers have found some more success on the offensive end. After ranking as low as No. 19 on offense earlier in the season, the Lakers are now No. 10 in offensive efficiency. And one key part of their success has been the post-game.

As I wrote in the aftermath of the opener against the Clippers, the Lakers were smart to utilize the post in that game but simply went to that well too often. They posted up nearly 25% of the time against the Clippers, but they’ve since tailed that back to posting up just 13% of the time, which is still the second-highest rate in the NBA.

According to Synergy Sports, the Lakers are the No. 2 most efficient team when scoring out of the post, including pass outs, getting 1.094 points per possession. That’s a much higher mark than they see out pick-and-rolls and isolations, speaking to their general lack of guard play.

A big part of that is the post efficiency is the scoring ability of LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing in the post but also their ability to find open shooters like Davis did against the Hawks. Only the Philadelphia 76ers post-up more often than the Lakers, but they’re nowhere near as efficient, ranking No. 11 in efficiency. The passing and shooting for the Lakers has allowed them to turn those post up plays into great shots.

The passing has been great from both Davis and LeBron, while LeBron’s efficiency in the post has been masterful. Among players who have posted up at least 20 times this season, Synergy has LeBron as the most efficient post scorer in the league (1.32 points per possession) by a wide margin ahead of Charlotte’s PJ Washington (1.167) and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (1.118).

Although the post hadn’t been much of a weapon over the past few years for the NBA’s best teams, the Lakers are leaning into their size to bring a mix of modern efficiency and throwback post play that currently has them with the best record in the league.

LeBron James grateful for Lakers bringing in ‘greatest’ Dave Chappelle

LeBron James was thrilled that the Los Angeles Lakers brought in comedian Dave Chappelle for one of their genius talks.

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LeBron James had to pinch himself a little bit yesterday at the Los Angeles Lakers practice facility, which is rare for the King, because he was in the presence of someone whose greatness he also admires.

James and his Lakers teammates gathered at their facility on Monday, where they gathered for one of their “Genius Talks” with comedian Dave Chappelle. The Lakers gave Chappelle a personalized jersey for coming to talk with the group. James shared a photo of Chappelle with the team and called him the “absolute greatest of all-time” and thanked the comedian for “making the world a better place.”

James is obviously very Hollywood as he moved there full-time and continues to produce films and movies at a rapid rate. But James still clearly has moments where he has to reflect on just how wild his life truly is.

LeBron’s passing is up and Davis is getting more passes than LeBron’s past running mates

L.A. Lakers star LeBron James is leading the NBA in assists and Anthony Davis is receiving more passes than any of his previous teammates.

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It might seem obvious considering that he’s leading the NBA in assists for the first time in his historic 17-year career, but LeBron James is passing the ball more than he has before in his career. And to add to that, nobody in LeBron’s history of past teammates received more passes on a nightly basis than Anthony Davis currently does next to The King.

Bryan Kalbrosky dug into the numbers for HoopsHype earlier on Monday and discovered that Davis is receiving 25.2 passes per 36 minutes from LeBron James. That’s the highest average of any LeBron teammate since that data has become available on NBA.com.

Obviously, it’s still early in the season, so this could change slightly but Davis looks well on his way to surpassing Kyrie Irving’s high mark of 22.3 passes per 36 minutes in 2015-16.

If things continue going the way they are, even Kyle Kuzma could pass Irving’s high mark as well. Davis has been a well of assists for LeBron and that doesn’t figure to change anytime soon, but there are also a couple of other aspects at play when looking at this passing increase.

First of all, LeBron is playing point guard more than he ever has because of injuries and the Lakers general lack of point guard depth. Second, the pace of play (possessions per game) has been steadily increasing over the last five years which of course leads to a higher volume of shots and passes.

Still, the stat that Kalbrosky dug into indicates a big reason why LeBron is leading the NBA assists. Even though Davis hasn’t been his normally efficient self, he won’t be short on opportunities as long as he and LeBron stay on the court.

Anthony Davis on usage: ‘Not worried about shots, I’m worried about winning’

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is shooting less than LeBron James is so far this season, but he doesn’t care.

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For as much talk as there was both in the preseason and in the early stages of the regular season about LeBron James moving aside to let Anthony Davis be the No. 1 option for the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s still looking more like an equal scoring partnership while LeBron himself still controls the offense as the team’s primary point guard.

LeBron has a slightly higher usage rate of 30.4% compared to 30.1% for Davis and their field goal attempt averages mirror that with 19.2 shots per game for LeBron and 18.1 for Davis. Davis took only 14 shots in Sunday’s win over Atlanta, causing head coach Frank Vogel to say he needed more shots, but Davis is not worried at all about juicing his individual stats when the Lakers are blowing out their opponents.

Here’s what he told reporters after the game, according to Spectrum Sportsnet.

“We winning. I don’t really care about any of that. We’re going to find ways to get a shot. When it’s in the flow in the first half and we’re running, getting fast breaks points and guys getting open shots, finding guys when I do get the ball I just try to play the right way. We were up big in the first half, I’m not worried about shots, I’m worried about winning.”

Davis has been instrumental in the Lakers having the league’s top-ranked defense through the first 13 games. He remains well ahead in the NBA’s block category and while his shooting and scoring numbers are slightly down, it’s clear the trade of having individual accolades while losing in New Orleans in exchange for more wins in Los Angeles and slightly worse offensive numbers is one Davis would make again. And if you’re at all worried about Davis’ free agency, moments like this are the most reassuring thing you’re going to get from a star of his caliber.

Frank Vogel says LeBron James is playing ‘as good as I’ve seen him’

LeBron James had another amazing night as he continues to do the heavy lifting for the Los Angeles Lakers on both ends.

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There aren’t too many people in the NBA that are still coaching that have as good of an understanding of the greatness of LeBron James as Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel.

Vogel is closer than he’s ever been before, but he also had to prepare game plans in three consecutive postseasons for his old Indiana Pacers teams to try and slowdown LeBron James and his Miami Heat teams from the earlier part of the decade. After another monster performance of 33 points and 12 assists, including zero turnovers and six 3-pointers, Vogel told reporters that he believes LeBron is playing as well as he’s ever seen him.

Although James told Anthony Davis that the Lakers would play through him and the Lakers have, James is still ultimately in control of the offense and there will be nights like last night where he has it going and Davis struggled from the field.

But the Davis addition has given LeBron a new life on the court as he has an efficient scoring option to go to on basically every possession, which is resulting in the highest assist totals of his career and the best start to a season for his team since 2016 (12-2).

LeBron James drops 33 and 12 dimes to push Lakers to NBA-best 11-2

LeBron James was dominant and the Los Angeles Lakers now have the best record in the NBA after winning their fourth straight game.

The Los Angeles Lakers looked great in white on Sunday as they wasted no time imposing their will against second year dynamo Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. LeBron James was dominant in all areas, finishing with 33 points and 12 assists, as well as six 3-pointers and 0 turnovers, leading the Lakers to a dominant win 122-101 over Atlanta. The Lakers led by as many as 30 points in the victory.

Sunday’s win was their fourth straight and with the Lakers at 11-2, they now own the best record in the NBA after the Boston Celtics lost to the Sacramento Kings earlier Sunday. Anthony Davis was mostly quiet offensively but he did provide some great blocked shots while Rajon Rondo had his best individual performance in his first four games with 15 points. Kyle Kuzma also had 17 points and five rebounds off the bench, including a sweet alley-oop finish off an assist from LeBron James.

Starting in place of the injured Avery Bradley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope once again performed well as the team’s starting shooting guard while Danny Green did his usual solid job across the board and threw in a highlight dunk to add to what was a special night for the Lakers in an another easy home win.

Trae Young still got loose to score 31 points, but the Hawks scoring totals were more of a result of the game’s pace being a slightly faster pace than the Lakers are used to playing than it was a reflection of the Lakers team defense. They were solid once again and they forced 16 Hawks turnovers in the win.

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AD block on Barnes clean but missed foul on LeBron in win over Kings

The Los Angeles Lakers came out with a win on Friday night but the NBA’s last two-minute report said they missed an offensive foul by James.

The Los Angeles Lakers escaped with their third straight victory on Friday night after squeaking out a 99-97 victory over former coach Luke Walton and the Sacramento Kings. A huge block by Anthony Davis appeared to be the most controversial play of the night as he made a little contact with Kings forward Harrison Barnes, but the NBA’s review of the last two minutes from Saturday found something else wrong with the end of the game.

According to the league, LeBron James should have been called for an offensive foul on what would be a game-winning foul call on Barnes with five seconds left. James would make both free-throws and win the game for the Lakers.

The NBA has focused in on offensive players initiating contact with their off-arm all season long, calling several players who use that move for offensive fouls. The Lakers certainly got a little lucky on Friday with the call considering how much they’ve tried to call it, but it’s also somewhat of an accepted truth that officials usually let things go in the closing moments of a game.

Anthony Davis on LeBron telling him to be No. 1 option: ‘Let’s have fun’

The Los Angeles Lakers stars have managed their partnership very well and are succeeding, which is leading to a much happier Davis.

Basically everything for the Los Angeles Lakers has gone according to plan this season and some things are succeeding more than anyone could ever foresee this early in the season. But one of the pivotal moments of the Lakers season happened months before when LeBron James told Anthony Davis he wanted Davis to be the team’s No. 1 scoring option.

The results have been incredible with Davis averaging 25 points per game and James leading the NBA in assists through the first 12 games. Earlier this week, Davis described when LeBron approached him and how it caused him to change his outlook on the upcoming season in an interview with The Athletic/Stadium’s Shams Charania.

Transcribed by Christian Rivas of Silver Screen and Roll

“It was tough because I had done it in New Orleans, but that was because it was like ‘AD you have to.’ Now it’s like, ‘well all right, we’re gonna split this 50/50. And when (LeBron) came he was like ‘nah, this is yours. I’ll play the second guy. We’re going through you.’ … And then it’s the Lakers … There’s a bigger spotlight, the media is bigger, ‘does AD have what it takes?’ … I really had to really wrap my head around ‘this is going to be a fun year. It’s not going to be tough, it’s not going to be hard, it’s going to be fun. Let’s have fun with it.’ So I tell him all the time, ‘most importantly, no matter what we do, let’s have fun. Let’s enjoy this.’”

So far this season has been one long exercise in the Lakers rediscovering fun on the court and for their fans. After the last time things went when the Lakers were told “this is going to be fun,” Davis’ embrace of that mindset heading into the season and LeBron’s embrace of setting the table for him is a refreshing change for the Lakers after six dormant seasons for the NBA’s glamour franchise.