The Los Angeles Lakers had to sit with the stink of their triple-overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings for two days. And while Anthony Davis is already looking forward to Tuesday's rematch with the Kings, the most productive thing the Lakers could do in the meantime was (partially) cleanse their palates by taking care of business against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night at Staples Center.
The Lakers got a bit lazy on the defensive end after a 32-22 third quarter but held on for the 110-106 win to get back to .500 (11-11).
“We have a great group of guys. We have a good team, it showed tonight,” Davis said. “Late in the game, a ton of miscues defensively on our end, but for the most part we played a hell of a game on both ends of the ball. That Sacramento game kind of lingered with us for a couple days, giving that game away, but we do see them in a couple days, Tuesday, so we can get that payback.
“We have a team to be able to run off several games in a row,” he added. “We have to do it starting defensively. I think we did a good job defensively tonight getting this kickstart to our winning streak.”
Davis is referring to his own comments after Friday's loss, in which he (accurately) surmised that the Lakers could change the narrative around their underwhelming start if only they rattled off 10 wins in a row. Fortunately: the schedule is in their favor.
Against Detroit, AD certainly did his part, posting 24 points and 10 rebounds on 10-of-15 shooting. He drilled both of his three-pointers and added two steals and three blocks.
LeBron, who was decidedly not messing around against Isaiah Stewart, led the Lakers with a +14 and played an expert floor-general game: 33 points, 12-of-2o shooting, nine assists, five boards.
“We were mad as heck the other night after the Sac loss,” James said — carefully choosing his words in the wake of his warning for swearing last week.
I can safely guarantee that the Lakers will be heavily motivated at the Golden 1 Center on Tuesday.
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