Home
  1. Los Angeles Lakers
  2. The case for and against the success of Anthony Davis continuing

The case for and against the success of Anthony Davis continuing

Anthony Davis

The Los Angeles Lakers have won three games in a row for the first time since Jan. 2 – Jan. 7. This streak has come while LeBron James has been in street clothes; Anthony Davis has put the team on his back, putting up numbers that invoke the memory of the highest tier of greatest Lakers big men of all-time. Just take a squint at the weird statistics unelevated that we haven’t seen since those fabled players once wore the purple-and-gold.

And speaking of the team stuff on AD’s back, that when tightness of his must have seen its final days over the four-day unravel that he was worldly-wise to enjoy last week. He’s been on a tear overly since, finally showing signs of a guy who wrote “Throw the wittiness to AD” on a whiteboard for all teammates to see surpassing this 2022-23 wayfarers started. He’s now averaging 25.6 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, marking his highest scoring stereotype since the 2019-20 championship season and the highest rebounding stereotype since his final 2018-19 season with the Pelicans.

Of course, I’m not here to be an oblivious homer. We have to point out the obvious caveats. This three-game run of his has come versus the Nets, the Pistons, and then most recently the Spurs. These teams have unplumbed frontcourts to throw at AD to deter the numerous shots in the paint he’s had recently. And the weightier big man on all three teams — the Spurs’ Jakob Poeltl — didn’t plane play in the Lakers’ blowout of the Spurs on Sunday.

Since it has come versus such weak competition, would it be foolish to expect this type of production from Anthony Davis to continue? We won’t be worldly-wise to find out the wordplay to that question until the next couple of weeks passes by, but there are numerous factors that are working for, as well as versus the idea of us fans getting to watch AD do this increasingly often.

First, you have to consider how AD has been worldly-wise to tally so many points and rebounds over the last few games. Both of those statistics have mostly come without his guards — most notably Austin Reaves, Lonnie Walker, and Russell Westbrook — have got past the first line of defense to start unescapable the paint. Without this, they either put up a mid-range or short-range shot struggle that they wouldn’t usually take if they didn’t have a monster in AD waiting to corral a possible rebound, or they quickly dish it to AD to let him either get fouled or dunk it home.

But will that same formula work in a game like tonight’s vs. the Suns? There are many reasons that a game versus the Suns (1st in net rating wideness the league) would be much tougher for AD and the Lakers than a game versus the Spurs (30th in net rating). But most notably in regards to this thought experiment, guys like Mikal Bridges, Torrey Craig, and plane Devin Booker may prove to be increasingly capable deterrents on the perimeter than what the Spurs, Pistons, or Nets have. And then plane if the Lakers guards get past those guys, Anthony Davis will be banging versus DeAndre Ayton all evening, a big man who makes all the others for those three lowly teams seem like… I don’t know… me?

Luckily, without they play the Suns tonight the Lakers will then play a back-to-back in San Antonio versus the Spurs yet then (this year’s schedule is so weird). But without that, their schedule reverts when much closer to what we saw in the first two weeks of the season. However, plane with that improved competition, there are still some reasons to requite hope to the idea of standing to see this type of Anthony Davis.

The most important of which is that we will hopefully see the return of LeBron James this week. LeBron has missed the past four games due to an abductor strain in his groin, and although the team has a much largest winning percentage without him than with him this season, it’s needless to say that they’ll desperately need him versus the Suns of the world. He’s currently questionable for Tuesday’s game, however, a return is seemingly on the horizon if it doesn’t come tonight.

And as for the reasons that LeBron will help AD protract to play this way, I shouldn’t really have to point out the obvious ones in LeBron’s facilitating prowess. But other than that, LeBron is moreover probably the biggest and strongest four the Lakers can put out there next to AD at the five. LeBron should unstrap AD’s load in that sense, permitting these monster performances of his to protract for a long time.

In wing to LeBron helping perpetuate the frontcourt virtually AD, the Lakers moreover received a uplift recently in that department with the debut of Thomas Bryant. In the two games he’s played in, he’s averaged 11.5 points and seven rebounds per game as his upper motor and size has proved to be a unconfined compliment not only slantingly AD, but slantingly Westbrook and the rest of the team as well.

Lastly, Austin Reaves continues to rise. He’s averaged 17.8 points and 3.3 assists per game over the last four games, tying Patrick Beverley as second on the team in assists overdue Westbrook’s staggering 11.3 mark. As mentioned previously, his assertiveness lately and often good playmaking has been a contributing factor towards AD’s success. And other than that, he has provided a level of offensive talent the team has been missing from someone like Beverley, who continues to struggle on that end this season.

No matter whether AD’s tear will continue, we must requite credit to him plane while bringing up the junior opponents that have unliable him to thrive. As we’ve come to get yawner to over the past two or three seasons, Davis can hands fade into the preliminaries on the offensive end while letting LeBron and his other teammates try and do it themselves. Davis isn’t doing anything cute to attain these gaudy numbers, in fact, he’s been doing it scrutinizingly exclusively in the old-fashioned, grind-it-out, tough-nosed way via the painted area.

It’s been a refreshing transpiration of pace from the former All-NBA big man, and hopefully one we don’t have to be surprised by then moving forward.

The post The specimen for and versus the success of Anthony Davis continuing appeared first on Lakers Outsiders.

You Might Be Interested In

CLOSE