The painful loss to the Indiana Pacers on Monday is a thing of the past now for the Los Angeles Lakers, who recovered their moxie right away by flattening the Portland Trail Blazers at home Wednesday night, 128-109. The win was just another reminder to the rest of the league that the Lakers are hitting their stride at last and have seemingly turned the corner after a horrible start to the 2022-23 NBA season.
Anthony Davis underscored the turnaround the Lakers are enjoying when he spoke to reporters following the victory over the Blazers.
“This is team is starting to gel on both ends of the floor,” Davis said about the Lakers (h/t Spectrum SportsNet).
Davis powered the Lakers with his 27 points on 9 of 17 shooting from the field. He added 12 rebounds and three blocks, while LeBron James paced Los Angeles with his 31 points. LeBron further stuffed the stat sheets with seven rebounds, eight assists, and a block in 33 minutes to lead the way for Los Angeles, who have won six 0f their last eight games. That stretch came after the Lakers had an atrocious 2-10 start to the season.
There's still plenty of work to do for LA before they could even hit .500 for the first time this season. They have a tough road ahead, with their next six games to be played in enemy territory, beginning on Friday against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Over their last eight games, the Lakers have averaged 120.4 points on 49.5 percent shooting from the floor, both numbers significantly better than their season numbers of 113.1 points per game on 46.6 field-goal shooting percentage. The Lakers are also a top-10 team in terms of adjusted defensive rating.