The Los Angeles Lakers kicked off their title defense in the Emirates NBA Cup on Friday night, hanging on to beat the San Antonio Spurs 120-115. As could be expected, it was an exceptional battle of the big men with Anthony Davis and Victor Wembanyama both shining for their respective teams.
In their first meeting of the season, Davis dropped 40 points to go along 12 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks on 14-of-26 shooting. Wembanyama more than held his own with 28 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, one steal and two blocks on 12-of-25 shooting.
Davis and Wembanyama have already had some great battles since the later entered the league and there surely will be more to come in the future. After the game, Davis spoke about how much he enjoys competing against the French phenom in an interview with Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet:
“He’s a special talent. To be 7’2, 7’3, 7’4 and do what he’s able to do, shoot the 3 and put it on the floor, pass. There’s nothing that he really can’t do. So he’s only gonna continue to get better and better in this league. But it’s always fun going against him. I know it’s gonna be a tough matchup against him every time we play. So I got the first one of the season but I know it’s gonna be tough. We had a great battle last year when we had the back-to-back here, me and him down the stretch going at it. So I love going against Wemby, he brings the best out of me and I bring the best out of him. We’re just two guys out there competing.”
While Davis got the better of Wembanyama in the first meeting, the Lakers still have three more matchups with the Spurs this season, first on the road on Nov. 27 and then in back-to-back home games on Jan. 11 and 13.
Davis and Wembanyama definitely seem to bring out the best in each other, which makes games between the Lakers and Spurs that much more fun for basketball fans across the world.
Lakers start 1-0 in Emirates NBA Cup group play
With the win over the Spurs, the Lakers have begun their title defense on a high note in Emirates NBA Cup group play. They still need to play the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns so more challenges are ahead, but the Lakers have shown that they get up for these cup games and are serious about wanting to win it again.
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