Anthony Davis has always been the leader of the Lakers whenever LeBron James was unavailable. But the problem with him has always been with his consistency. Albeit AD has been performing really well this season. However, he has not always been available for the team due to injuries. Davis missed several games this season after he sustained an injury last December. In his absence, LeBron James was performing incredibly well especially since the King’s 38th birthday.
The team was going through internal confusion with the team’s roster. The Lakers were not able to find the right balance. But after the February trade deadline was over the Los Angeles franchise got some quality players to fill in the gaps that were troubling the team throughout the season. Finally, the team looked like a balanced unit and was starting to go full throttle to climb up on the table for playoff qualification.
However, to the Lakers’ dismay injuries to valuable players kept increasing. The most vital injury concern was that of LeBron James who is out for an uncertain period. Albeit he is expected to return on March 24 against the Thunder. The James injury was just the beginning as later on the new recruit, D’Angelo Russell sprained his ankle and missed several games on the trot.
Russell’s replacement, Dennis Schroder also sustained an injury in his ankle. Meantime the head coach Darvin Ham has talked about Anthony Davis and his fitness improvement process. Ham said the team does not want to take any risk with AD’s feet. Hence, as a precaution, Anthony Davis will not play any back-to-back games.
Anthony Davis Is Determined To Turn Things Around For The Lakers
But Davis is eager to make an impact. However quite a few matches the Lakers lost despite Davis and James performing well. But Anthony Davis is well aware that the team is losing time and he needs to do it for the franchise. That kind of determination was noticeable during the match against the Warriors on Sunday. The Warriors have been doing well and climbing up rapidly to make sure their playoff chances stay alive.
Hence the Lakers needed a miracle to stop the defending champions without LeBron James. Anthony Davis turned out to be that miracle. He scored 39 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds as he hold the team together till the last minute. Finally, the Lakers won 113-105 against the Warriors. The Lakers (31-34) are currently the 11th seed in the Western Conference.
Although Anthony Davis was on another level in the last match it is not very surprising. Anthony and LeBron together have helped the Lakers win the 2020 NBA championship. Albeit without James, AD does not have a great record for the Lakers. The first three seasons saw Anthony Davis helping the team win 11 games but losing 19 without LeBron James. In these seasons AD’s average was 24.1 ppg and 9.3 rpg which is great for any ordinary player. But the eight time All-Star is no ordinary player. He is leading the Hollywood side in the absence of the King. Fans will expect more from Anthony Davis in the following matches to get the Lakers home, to the postseason.
