The second half has been an issue all season long for the Los Angeles Lakers as a whole and Anthony Davis individually. But despite a scare late in the third, both Davis and the Lakers came through when it mattered most on Sunday night.
Davis dominated the paint with 37 points and 18 rebounds as the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat the Brooklyn Nets 116-103. Davis shot 15-of-25 from the field as the Lakers snapped their five-game losing streak and now sit at 3-10 on the season.
Many had pointed to Davis’ struggles in the second half this season, but he came through with 21 points in the final two quarters and 10 of his 18 rebounds were on the offensive end as he regularly created extra possessions for the Lakers.
Lonnie Walker IV continued to show off his offensive repertoire as he poured in 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 4-of-5 from 3-point range. In fact, the Lakers as a team shot 40.7 percent from deep with Austin Reaves also knocking down 3-of-4 attempts.
Reaves was one of the many Lakers’ role players to step up on this night in the absence of LeBron James, finishing with 15 points and three assists with one of those passes being a LeBron-like left-handed kickout to Walker for an open 3 in the fourth quarter.
Russell Westbrook also picked up his playmaking with 12 assists on the night to go along with 15 points, even though he struggled shooting from the field.
Troy Brown Jr. and Wenyen Gabriel added nine points apiece with the latter seeming to develop a am excellent rapport with Westbrook as the point guard assisted on each of his baskets. Rookie Max Christie also had a positive impact without scoring a point, grabbing nine rebounds while playing excellent defense as well.
Things were not without their issues for the Lakers as those third-quarter woes reared their head late. After pulling ahead by 16 with just under four minutes left, the Lakers allowed Brooklyn to get hot and go on an 11-0 run. With so many second-half issues there was undoubtedly some nervousness going into the fourth quarter, but Westbrook started the final quarter strongly and Davis brought it home.
Kevin Durant led the Nets with 31 points and nine rebounds while Cam Thomas added 15 points off the bench for Brooklyn.
Next up for the Lakers
The Lakers actually get a few days off before taking the court again as they don’t play again until Friday night when they host last year’s No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons.
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