WATCH: Lakers’ Anthony Davis Airballs as PJ Tucker Dominates Him Defensively in Game 1

Anthony Davis was supposed to feast on the small-ball Houston Rockets. Robert Covington is their tallest player, but the Rockets went for the positional matchup. P.J. Tucker took the challenge of guarding AD and ended up succeeding.

While AD was one of the few Lakers to have an efficient shooting night, Tucker’s defense on him definitely limited him. That defense especially came important in the fourth quarter, as the Rockets shut LeBron James and Anthony Davis out. Tucker’s role in that defensive stranglehold cannot be understated. Davis scored 0 points on P.J. Tucker in 26 possessions with Tucker as the primary defender. That is unacceptable from a superstar.

Tucker may not have the size or the finesse to take on Anthony Davis, but he had the heart. His hustle on the defensive end stifled AD. The Rockets took a very important game one win. While James Harden was the star for his work on the offensive end, Tucker was the beast holding down the defense.

Anthony Davis to find answers for Tucker?

There is no obvious reason for AD to be locked down by Tucker. Davis has a height advantage and is clearly the more skilled player. However, Tucker hasn’t been a starter for the constantly contending Rockets for no reason. He is possibly their best defender outside Robert Covington. Covington’s size and athleticism help him on that end, but Tucker has neither. He just has the mentality of a pressure defender that forces offenses to get and shots off.

In the play that we see above, Tucker is basically jumping over a relatively stationary AD. Even though AD could just get an easy jumper over Tucker due to the size mismatch, he missed it. This was primarily due to the annoying defense of Tucker that forced AD into taking a basic mid-range jumper instead of taking Tucker into the post.

AD has the offensive repertoire to hurt the Rockets from anywhere on the court. But, he may have to hold that back this series. AD needs to get into the post and bang. Tucker is at the end of his career, while AD is entering his prime. He needs to take the game where he needs it to be rather than playing into Tucker. Only time will tell if he adapts to this.