Anthony Davis overcame a sore left shoulder to deliver a historic performance in the Lakers‘ win over Minnesota Sunday night, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. His combination of 27 points, 25 rebounds, seven steals, five assists and three blocks had never been posted before in the league. Davis was listed as questionable for the game, still feeling the effects of a Friday collision with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the team’s medical staff had to wrap his shoulder with a heat pack whenever he wasn’t on the court.
“I felt it at times out there,” Davis said. “I still kind of feel it.”
McMenamin notes that the seven steals were a career high for Davis, and the 25 rebounds fell one short of his career-best mark. He has played a huge role in the Lakers’ recent surge, which has them six games over .500 and within two games of sixth place.
“I think we’re hitting our stride right now,” Davis said. “We’re just trying to keep going, keep pushing, knowing that just like last year, all we got to do is get in. We feel like it’s tough for anybody to beat us in a seven-game series. … We like our chances against anybody at that point.”
There’s more from Los Angeles:
- Lakers forward Cam Reddish sat out Sunday’s game and continues to deal with significant soreness in his right ankle, tweets Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Coach Darvin Ham said he expects an update on Reddish’s condition in the next day or two.
- P.J. Tucker, who has seen limited court time since being traded to the Clippers in November, made his first start of the season on Sunday, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. The opportunity came because Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were both sitting out the second game of a back-to-back, and Tucker responded with seven points and six rebounds in 25 minutes. The 38-year-old forward believes he can still contribute to the team. “That’s what I do. It’s like breathing to me — physicality and making people work and not giving up easy plays and cave,” Tucker said. “That’s the stuff that comes naturally. Making shots and doing all that stuff is just extras.”
- Coach Tyronn Lue was unhappy about the scheduling conflict that had his team playing two afternoon games 22 hours apart, per Greg Beacham of The Associated Press. The Clippers typically get the worst dates at Crypto.com Arena, and they were forced into the early contests because the Lakers had a home game Sunday night and the NHL’s Kings had a late game Saturday. Bucks coach Doc Rivers, whose team provided the opposition on Sunday, said he went through the same experience when he coached the Clippers. “It was awful,” Rivers said. “I think we did two or three of these (back-to-back afternoon weekend games) a year. It’s just not natural. Being here, you get used to it, but it’s still not normal.”
Good to see the refs getting back on board the Lakers bandwagon.
Certainly didn’t have anything to do with the Wolves shooting 42% to the Lakers 53%. Or Anthony Edwards going 2/9 from 3.
I get that the free throw disparity is annoying, but the Wolves also just played poorly. And with no Gobert they couldn’t defend Davis without fouling him.
T-wolves without Golbert and Towns is just a below average team in the west.
The 19 turnovers didn’t matter.
Casual fans don’t always understand the relationship between fouls that aren’t called becoming turnovers (steals).
Sure, let’s send L.A to the line forty times, thirty isn’t enough. God forbid anyone’s allowed to actually play defense against L.A. Get away with murder in comparison to other teams on the glass too. I sincerely hope Nuggets stay healthy. I’ll enjoy them whooping L.A in a 5 game series with a 150 less trips to the line.
What gets me is not only the differential in FTAs between the Lakers and their opponents, but the ridiculously low number of fouls the Lakers are generally called for. It isn’t that uncommon for them to be whistled for 12 or fewer fouls in an entire game. They get away with murder.
Of course, this has been happening since MJ retired and just gaining traction now, ratings matter. Different @ both ends. Like you said, fakers called for nothing. Meanwhile foul trouble on the opposition’s best players. Stars get angry getting hacked going to the rack and Tee time it is. If that doesn’t put a team off they’ll just blatantly make bad wrong calls down the stretch in a tight game. Phoenix, rigged season Tournament. Now there’s a trophy that can be named after LBJ.
There was a 1-steal difference in favor of the Lakers. One. And the Lakers had more turnovers. Did you just pull that out of thin air? Fake outrage.
Good to see the Warriors in 10th place and Curry on the shelf.
Why is your team afraid of them? It doesn’t matter because nobody is getting past Nuggets this year.
Free throws are down league wide since all star break.