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LOS ANGELES – After another solid defensive performance from the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James and company remain atop the Western Conference standings with an 11-2 record and the rest of the league fearing the purple and gold.
The visiting Atlanta Hawks didn't stand much of a chance against these legitimate title contenders. At one point, it looked as though Trae Young and his squad were going to lose by 40 or more in the same way they did the L.A. Clippers the previous night. Even though that didn't turn out to be the case as they eventually lost by 21 points, the defense anchored by Anthony Davis left an impression on Young.
“It's tough when you can't make shots, and I give a lot of credit to them,” Young said of the Lakers' defense. “They're one of the best defensive teams in the league. We just have to be better at knocking down shots, working on our game, and just trying to be more crafty around defenses like them.”
Although Davis had another uncharacteristic night offensively making only five of the 14 shots he attempted, he picked up the slack defensively with five blocks. Not only was that an impressive individual feat, but the team had a total of 14 blocked shots, which is the most the Lakers have had going back to December of 2002 against the Memphis Grizzlies (16).
Five players on the Lakers recorded a block on Sunday night with Davis (5) leading the way, followed by Dwight Howard (3), Danny Green (2), JaVale McGee (2), Kyle Kuzma (1), and LeBron (1).
Along with praising the opposing defense, the Hawks star also talked about going up against LeBron once again.
“I think last year was more surreal for me,” Young said of facing James. “It's crazy. It's LeBron, somebody that I looked up to. But now [this year] it's more competitive. It's more me. I'm not necessarily worried about that until after the game. It's a lot different of a mindset going into this year playing against him.”
