Going into Saturday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis’ lack of success against Domantas Sabonis was well-documented.
Davis was 0-10 in his career against Sabonis and although he has outplayed him at times, the Kings star had his number last season in particular.
With a comeback victory to improve to 3-0 on the season though, Davis finally ended that streak on Saturday night, picking up his first win against Sabonis.
After the game though, Davis downplayed the significance of that and actually shared praise for Sabonis.
“It was a team effort,” Davis said. “He has guys around him that play well, obviously De’Aaron Fox led the league last year in fourth quarter clutch shots and he usually likes taking those shots at the end of the game. But I don’t get into all of that. I don’t care. He’s a hell of a player, All-Star. He had that Netflix show about him. He’s one of the premier bigs in this league. Definitely hats off to him for what he is able to do on the floor on both ends. We just tried to be aggressive to get the team win tonight.”
Both Davis and Sabonis had strong games for their respective teams. Sabonis had a triple-double with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, playing with that same relentless force that has led to success against the Lakers in the past.
This time though, Davis matched that forced and finished with 31 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks on 10-of-15 shooting. He had 14 points in the fourth quarter alone, including a dagger 3-pointer when things were getting dicey for the Lakers.
While getting that monkey off his back against Sabonis had to have been a good feeling for Davis, it is clear that he was just happy to get a win as the Lakers improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2010.
Anthony Davis: Lakers are ‘different team’ this season
After the win over the Kings, Anthony Davis gave his thoughts on the start to the Lakers’ season, feeling they are a different team and putting the league on notice.
“I like where our team is,” Davis said. “Obviously there’s a lot that we can clean up on both ends of the floor, but we’ll definitely take those wins. I’d rather be able to clean up things with a win over a loss. It’s been a tough three games obviously with three familiar teams from the West. We’ve been able to hold our own and put the league on notice that we’re a different team. We want to come out and compete every night, whether we’re up 20 or down 20. We’re gonna continue to fight and we’re been able to be on the winning side of it the first three games.”
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