Coming off an emotional and thrilling win against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Los Angeles Lakers had a golden opportunity to make some ground in the Western Conference standings when they hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.
The Lakers were handed multiple gifts as the Sacramento Kings lost to the Houston Rockets earlier in the evening, and the Timberwolves came into the matchup shorthanded as they were without Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Kyle Anderson. However, turnovers and poor defense in the first half allowed Minnesota to hang around give Los Angeles a run for their money.
Things turned around when Davis decided it was time for to take control of the game and he wound up leading the Lakers to a much-needed win.
Despite the slow start, Davis had no problem asserting himself on both ends because of the Timberwolves’ lack of size in the front court. Davis was a monster in the painted area, gobbling up rebounds and muscling his way for easy baskets near the rim.
Defensively, Davis had one of his best performances of the 2023-24 season as he was a constant disrupter in the passing lanes and challenging shots. The All-Star big man set a new career-high for steals with seven while also adding three blocks.
Davis posted video games numbers in the win against Minnesota, scoring 27 points, pulling down 25 rebounds and dishing out five assists for good measure. Davis became the first player in NBA history to record at least 25 points, 25 rebounds, five assists, five steals and three blocks in a game.
Meanwhile, LeBron James returned to the starting lineup after missing the last game against the Milwaukee Bucks and he took his time getting re-acclimated. James eventually flipped the switch and looked like himself offensively again, scoring in transition and table-setting for his teammates.
While James took a backseat to Davis, he wasn’t a slouch as he just missed out on a triple-double. James led all scorers with 29 points to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds.
Rui Hachimura rebounded from his rough shooting performance against the Bucks and jumpstarted the Lakers offense in the first quarter. Hachimura scored 10 points in the opening period and finished the night with 15 points on five-of-10 shooting.
What’s next for Lakers
The Lakers will finally get a couple of days off before they head up north for a pivotal rematch against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. Los Angeles will then draw the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
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