The Los Angeles Lakers are enjoying a resurgence during the 2019-20 NBA season as they have built upon an impressive start and established themselves as a championship contender.
Anthony Davis‘ arrival is the obvious reason why the Lakers are where they are as the 26 year old has brought a blend of scoring, defense, and overall talent that most teams can not match up with. Davis’ presence on both ends of the floor has made head coach Frank Vogel’s first season in Los Angeles a smooth one as he does not have to have worry about much when he is in the lineup.
However, Davis has been known to be injury-prone and he sat out the final meeting between his former team, the New Orleans Pelicans, due to a sore knee.
The Lakers managed to earn a hard-fought win and Vogel talked about how they were able to overcome Davis’s absence, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We had one of the best players in the league out tonight, that’s what makes the win feel that much better for us. It was a next man up type of night. Kuz was great, our bigs were great, a lot of guys contributed on the perimeter, in particular on the defensive end with regard to Jrue and BI and just a heck of a win for us.”
Kyle Kuzma got the start in place of Davis and looked much like the player fans are used to seeing as he was decisive when attacking the basket and was able to finish over defenders en route to scoring 20 points. He also did a solid job defending Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram as he bodied them up and forced them into some tough looks.
JaVale McGee was also instrumental in the win as he was a menace guarding the rim and ended up with six blocks in only 24 minutes of action. Danny Green and Avery Bradley also did their part by playing tough defense throughout the game and were able to limit Brandon Ingram and Jrue Holiday to only 26 combined points.
The purple and gold have trumpeted their next man up mentality all season and it showed against an up-and-coming Pelicans team that is a serious threat to make the 2020 NBA playoffs. Hopefully, Davis is back in the lineup when the Lakers take on the Philadelphia 76ers.