Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers took advantage of a downsized Toronto Raptors — and fourth-quarter free throw trips — to eke out a 132-131 win at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
The Lakers (19-19) are back to .500 after their second straight nail-biting win.
With center Jakob Poeltl nursing an ankle sprain, the Raptors were bereft of size underneath (the ageless Thaddeus Young started at center). LeBron James and the Lakers promptly fed AD, who had 16 of their 28 first-quarter points.
Davis went quiet for two periods, then poured in 20 in a tight fourth quarter to finish with a season-high 41 points on 13-for-17 shooting. He converted both of his 3-point attempts, 13 of 14 free throws — including 11 in the final 3:59 — and tallied 11 rebounds, six assists, and a critical rejection in the final minute.
LeBron James on Anthony Davis
“We knew we had an advantage in the interior tonight,” said LeBron. “Just tried to get it to him early and often, and late. So that was my mindset all game.
“It's always a treat to see him go off like that.”
LeBron finished with 22 points and 12 assists. As he noted afterward, Tuesday's performance served as a callback to 2019-20 when LeBron led the NBA in assists en route to a championship.
Davis is averaging 30.3 points on 60% shooting, 11.4 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 1.4 steals over the last 14 games.
AD ‘feeling good'
“You could tell his body's feeling good,” said Darvin Ham. “He's in a good space. His energy is great. He's just doing what he needs to do. He's not trying to force anything. That's why it's so efficient. He's just playing the game the way it's supposed to be played. … He's in a really good mental space, spiritual space. And physically, he's at a really high level right now.”
Poeltl's absence notwithstanding, the Lakers were rightfully more encouraged about Tuesday's performance than following Sunday's ugly 106-103 win over the Los Angeles Clippers that mercifully — if haphazardly — ended a four-game skid. Against Toronto, the Lakers shot 54.3% from the field, 16-for-36 (44.4%) from downtown, and dished 34 assists on 44 buckets. Seven players scored in double figures.
Lakers were ‘shot-aggressive' vs. Raptors
“Shot-aggressive” was the evening's buzzword. Pregame, Ham said the focus of a recent film session was to highlight indecisiveness from shooters when the ball is swung or kicked out. The Lakers entered Tuesday ranked 29th in made triples per game. The Lakers head coach — whose seat cools with each victory — was pleased with his team's ball movement and conviction against the Raptors.
“We encouraged our guys to be shot-aggressive,” Ham explained. “A lot of times early on, especially last month or so, we had a ton of times where guys were catching the ball and being indecisive. But, I think the way we've been attacking the ball and spraying the ball around — just, energy. The ball finds energy. And guys are not hesitating as much and really being aggressive from the 3-point line and at the rim.”
LeBron specifically complimented Cam Reddish (13 points, 4-of-6 from 3) for his readiness.
“He was always ready offensively. … He was very shot-aggressive. Teams kinda try to force him to make shots, or want to force him to shoot. There's times when he's in-between. I thought tonight when the ball found his hands he was pretty much ready to go.”
(Also shot-aggressive? A fan who won $100,000 by sinking the half-court shot.)
Once again, LeBron and AD were supplemented by substantive contributions from Christian Wood (14 points), Taurean Prince (11 points) and Max Christie, whose offensive rebound with the Lakers up by three and 1:39 to go was arguably the biggest play of the game. (Austin Reaves remains mired in a shooting slump, while D'Angelo Russell played 17 minutes and didn't speak to reporters for the second straight game.)
In the end, though, it was Davis who did the heavy lifting, with LeBron playing second fiddle. Ultimately, that's the formula for success for the Lakers. And right now, a one-point home win over a 15-22 squad counts as a success.
For all the wrangling about rotations and schemes, sometimes basketball is simple: Just give the ball to the biggest, best guy, close to the basket.
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