While it is hard to believe, the NBA is already more than halfway finished with the 2019-20 NBA season.
It is around this time of the season where the championship contenders start to separate themselves from the rest of the pack and fortunately, the Los Angeles Lakers have become widely considered one of the few teams who are capable of winning the 2020 NBA Finals.
Anthony Davis has been a huge reason why the Lakers are in the position they are in as the 26-year-old has provided everything the front office imagined when they swung a blockbuster deal for him to begin the 2019 NBA offseason.
After their win against the Denver Nuggets, Davis reflected on the team’s season heading into the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“It’s been fun. It’s been a fun first half of the year. We really gelled. We had our struggles, but we continued to fight, continued to be with each other, continued to be together and we’re going to need it for the second half. It’s obviously going to be a lot tougher, but we know what we’re getting ourselves into.”
Davis also talked about what a successful second half would look like:
“We’re just going to keep fighting, keep playing together, keep playing for each other and try to have a better second half than we did the first half. Pick it back up defensively. I think that was our biggest thing late in the first half of the season. We kind of slipped defensively and we gotta pick it back up defensively in the second half and we should be fine.”
Although the Lakers added more cushion atop the standings in the Western Conference, Davis is right in that the team could do better on the defensive end. After an amazing start to the season, their defensive numbers have taken a dip and will need to improve if they hope to go deep into the 2020 NBA playoffs.
Even at 41-12, Los Angeles could also improve their play by adding a player via the buyout market. The purple and gold have already been linked to several players like J.R. Smith and Dion Waiters, but other names could emerge in the next couple of weeks.
Regardless, it is safe to say that Davis and the Lakers have exceeded expectations and already look to be ahead of schedule. If they can come out of the break like they did to start the season, then they should be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
