Anthony Davis has been an absolute force for the Los Angeles Lakers over the past week with at least 37 points and 10 rebounds in each of the last three games. Someone else who has been coming on recently as well has been Austin Reaves, who is really thriving in his sixth man role.
But without a doubt, the story for the Lakers lately has been Davis, who is showing the aggression on offense that many have been calling for for some time now. And Reaves believes the Lakers as a whole are just now seeing how effective the offense overall can be when it is ran through Davis.
Following the Lakers’ victory over the San Antonio Spurs, Reaves admitted that while this shouldn’t have been the case, he feels the team is just learning that giving the ball to Davis tends to lead to good things happening, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, an offensive possession is never a bad possession when we give AD the ball. I feel like that’s what we’ve kind of, we shouldn’t of had to learn it, his body of work his whole care has basically proven that, but I feel like that’s something that we’ve learned. Anytime we can give him the ball anywhere on the court against anybody, we like our chances because he’s such a skilled player. With the force that he’s playing with right now, it’s beautiful to see. So I don’t know what everybody else thinks, but I want him to keep doing the same thing. You don’t need to defer to anybody. He needs to just go be him.”
Davis’ ability to operate from anywhere on the floor against basically anybody opens up so much for the rest of the offense. Not only can Davis score from anywhere, but he is a more than capable passer who can find teammates for open shots as well.
Reaves has often been on the receiving end of those looks and his recent hot shooting likewise, makes things easier for Davis by creating proper spacing down low.
The key now is for Davis to keep up this aggression regardless of who is on the court with him. As Reaves said, he doesn’t need to defer to anyone on this team and the Lakers overall will continue to be their best version if he plays like this on a nightly basis.
Anthony Davis credits Lakers’ hot outside shooting for his recent offensive run
For his part, Davis gave a lot of credit to his Lakers teammates for making things easier for him during his recent offensive outburst.
The Lakers’ big man noted that the likes of Reaves and Taurean Prince, among others, knocking down open 3-pointers consistently creates more spacing for him and makes it harder for the opposition to double-team him. And if Davis can go one-on-one, he is going to win those matchups far more often than not.
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