Anthony Davis said the goal for the Lakers on this six-game road trip was to finish above .500. They just missed out on reaching that goal, but were able to finish 3-3 after their seven-point win over the Detroit Pistons.
Davis was once again outstanding, finishing with 34 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in the victory.
It was not an easy win though as the Pistons, led by trade target Bojan Bogdanovic, fought back in the third quarter after the Lakers led by double-digits at halftime. But the Lakers were able to weather the storm thanks to Davis and LeBron James, as well as some clutch shooting from Austin Reaves.
And Davis was happy with the resiliency the Lakers showed as he believes this game was a must-win for them and they ultimately came through, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“This was a must-win for us, we knew that. I lost the game for us in Philly, and then me and Bron missed a game and I didn’t play in Cleveland. We consider this a successful trip, you know .500. The last game is always the toughest, because you’re going back home after being on the raod for 11 days, can’t wait to get back to your families and back in your own bed, things like that. But this team is a good team, they got a lot of scoring. Bogdanovic got hot from three, all their guys shot the ball really well in the third quarter. But we just stayed resilient, kept fighting in a must-win for us.”
Davis’ missed free throw late against the Philadelphia 76ers is obviously something that bothers him and prevented the team from going over .500 on this trip, and that was a huge reason why the Lakers needed to leave Detroit with a win. As he noted, the last game of a long trip is always difficult because players are looking forward to finally going home and that can often lead to a bad performance.
Davis also explained another reason why this game was a must-win for the Lakers, as the team is set to host the rival Boston Celtics, who have the best record in the league, on Tuesday and Davis expects that to be a good game:
“That’s why it was a must-win for us, to get this win feeling good about ourselves going into a big game back at home. We feel like we can beat anyone, we’re playing really good defensively, offense is clicking, so we expect that to be a good game for us.”
Any time the Lakers and Celtics meet it is a good game, but with the Lakers playing so much better and Boston operating at such a high level coming off their NBA Finals appearance last season, this will be an absolute must-watch on Tuesday night.
Anthony Davis says only goal is to win a championship for the Lakers
The Lakers may have other minor goals for themselves throughout the season, but Davis made it absolutely clear that the ultimate goal for himself and the team is to win a championship.
Davis believes that if you focus on that and push towards that goal, everything else will work itself out. With Davis himself playing at such an unbelievable level, the Lakers suddenly find themselves closer to that than anyone believed, especially if they are able to make a deal or two to bolster the roster.
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