After seeing their win streak come to an end on Friday against the Indiana Pacers, the Los Angeles Lakers were determined to get back on the right track against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. And they did just that as Anthony Davis led a defensive showcase and the Lakers cruised to a 12-point win.
The Lakers got out ahead 17-0 to start the game and led 31-11 at the end of the first quarter. Overall, they held the Nets to just 42.4% shooting for the game and an abysmal 19% shooting in the first quarter, which is exactly what Davis and the Lakers wanted to do.
After the victory, Davis said that after a lackluster defensive effort against the Pacers, the Lakers wanted to set the tone in Brooklyn, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Just bouncing back from our game against Indiana. We didn’t play really good defensively and obviously we know this is a team that has a lot of offensive threats and we just wanted to come out and set the tone defensively. We did that in the first quarter.”
Things weren’t always easy for the Lakers as the Nets fought back in the second and third quarters to give themselves a chance. But the Lakers’ defense came alive in the fourth to ensure they would leave with a victory and Davis understands that defense remains the most important thing for this team:
“We tried to come out and set the tone defensively. We let them back into it in the third and even a little bit in the second, they had 33 points in the second quarter if I’m not mistaken. So we want to be better in those two quarters to end the half and to start the half. But for the most part, I think we did a really good job defensively just trying to set the tone knowing that more than likely when we’re not clicking offensively, defense is gonna win us games.”
The consistency still needs to be better, but the Lakers have shown time and again this season that they are capable of really locking down teams for long stretches. Davis is the key to any defensive success for this team and they will go as far as he carries them on that end of the court.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis playing through knee issue that is ‘still sore’
Anthony Davis finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in the Lakers win in Brooklyn. He was excellent as usual, but he is not quite 100 percent as he continues to deal with a knee issue.
But that won’t stop Davis from being on the court as he said he thinks the injury will clear up in a few days and it won’t prevent him from suiting up every night for the Lakers. Davis admitted that the knee is still sore, but he’ll be fine going forward.
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