Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis has been on an absolute tear and Tuesday night was his latest outstanding performance. Davis finished with a season-high 41 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists as the Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors for their second straight win.
Davis shot 13-of-17 from the field against the Raptors, who were without starting center Jakob Poeltl, and the Lakers made sure to take advantage. Over his last 10 games, Davis is shooting 59.8 percent from the field and the big man admitted he is just feeling it right now.
“Just in a great rhythm right now,” Davis said when asked about his latest excellent game. “Teammates doing a good job of giving me the basketball in spots where I can be effective. Trying to do everything I can just to help the team get back to the other side, which is winning.
“And obviously tonight we knew with no Jakob Poeltl, the rim protection wasn’t gonna be there tonight. Was just trying to take advantage of that.”
Winning is always most important and it was Davis who ensured the Lakers walked out with a victory with 20 of his 41 points coming in the fourth quarter, including going 11-of-11 from the free throw line. Davis has had his issues in the past with clutch free throws but actually got a little extra motivation from a former teammate.
“No. I know what you’re talking about, Boston last year, Philly,” Davis said when asked if he had thought about the possibility of missing at the line. “But no. [Dennis Schroder] was actually talking to me in the last two, he said ‘the pressure is on now.’ So I wanted to make them on purpose with no rim. I didn’t want to hit the rim. One of them did.
“But nah, I feel very confident stepping up to the line, any situation and make free throws to put the game away. So nothing went through my mind.”
This season has also seen a return to form for Davis’ perimeter game as he’s been much improved from the midrange and 3-point line which Davis attributes to just getting more shots up from that area. “I just wasn’t shooting it enough,” the Lakers big man added.
“A lot of my shots were coming in the paint, post ups and ducking and seals and things like that. Now the way that teams are playing me, doubling on a catch and on a dribble, I’ve been just getting back to the mid-range, easier shot instead of fighting the double team to get a shot up. So that’s all it is, just continuing to trust it and shoot it.”
That mindset, leadership and, of course, on-court performance from Davis is helping propel the Lakers out of this slump, and now the big man simply wants the team to continue with how they have been playing over the last couple games.
“Everything is so conflicted. Our turnovers, poor execution, our lack of attention to detail. We just got us in a situation of losing four straight, and then we flipped the switch and pick all those categories up and we were able to get two wins. So we proven that we can do it throughout the course of the season, play how are we supposed to get wins. So now I just want us to continue that path and live with the result.”
If the Lakers don’t beat themselves, and Davis continues to play like this, the results will continue to be positive more often than not.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis comfortable ‘guarding anybody’ in the NBA
For as great as Davis has been on offense, he remains one of the best defensive players in the league as well. He is capable of guarding basically anyone and the Lakers big man feels comfortable regardless of who he is matched up against.
“I’m very comfortable guarding anybody in this league,” Davis said. “I’ve shown that I can guard multiple positions, 1-5, and my team is very confident in me guarding those guys and making plays defensively for us.”
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