Anthony Davis showed up for the Lakers tonight. In a sloppy game with both teams still finding their groove, Davis emerged to the top and put the Lakers on their back.
While LeBron James struggled to tackle the Clippers’ wing defenders, AD attacked the basket. Even he struggled with efficiency, but he made it to the line through the game.
Davis dropped a cool 34 points on the Clippers, with 16 of them coming through attempts at the free-throw line. He shot 8 for 19 in the game, racking up 42% field goal percentages.
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Davis had a lot of big moments in the game, including back-to-back three-point makes in the third quarter.
The Clippers genuinely had no one to match up with Davis. Zubac is still not seasoned enough to handle the responsibility of clamping Anthony Davis up.
Marcus Morris Sr. cannot match up with Davis physically. The Clippers really missed Montrezl Harrell’s defensive prowess, as he would have made the Lakers sweat more inside the post.
Anthony Davis tonight
34 points
8 rebounds
4 assists
16/17 FT pic.twitter.com/EgjiwRJqrh— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) July 31, 2020
Anthony Davis to take charge against the Clippers?
Everyone knows that the way LeBron James plays enables Anthony Davis to be dominant. Davis has never had a point guard like LeBron and has reaped the benefits all season.
Davis is the leader in point for the Lakers this season, out-scoring LeBron in this game by 18 points.
When it comes to the Clippers, it is quite conclusively proven that Davis needs to be the leader. Clippers have elite wing defenders to constantly throw at LeBron.
James fought off double-teams all night, and Kawhi Leonard is the perfect opponent for ‘Bron. If it’s not Kawhi, the Clippers have Paul George, Patrick Beverley, and other wings to throw at LeBron.
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LeBron shot 6/19 in a 16-point performance. He supplemented it with 7 assists and 11 rebounds.
Davis is outshining his role as a secondary star and taking the mantle of a leader. LeBron is in year 17 and will have more cold nights than he did before. This is precisely when the Lakers need the younger AD to step up.
He needs to do it for his legacy as well, especially with the lack of post-season success while with the Pelicans. Both LBJ and AD need to show up when the other is out of commission.
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The odds of that happening are pretty good from what we have seen all season.
SOURCE- NBA.com- Stats