Lakers win in hectic 4th quarter comeback against the Pistons.
The Lakers came back from a 17-point deficit to win it 121–116 against the Detriot Pistons, getting back to .500 on the season with a 9–9 record, snapping a three-game losing streak.
A part of the 4th quarter comeback came from a surge from Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. They helped the Lakers come back after LeBron James was ejected in the 3rd quarter after an inadvertent elbow (resulting in a flagrant 2) to Pistons Isaiah Stewart. The duo of Davis and Westbrook combined for 56 points on the night, with Davis scoring 12 points in the 4th quarter and Westbrook scoring 15 points.
In the 3rd quarter, LeBron inadvertently elbowed Isaiah Stewart in the face at the free-throw line, causing Stewart to react angrily as he bled profusely from his right eye. Stewart tried to go after LeBron multiple times, going around Pistons staff and trainers that kept him from going after LeBron.
Anthony Davis responded to the altercation, saying: “Everyone in the league knows LeBron is not a dirty guy.” He said that the moment LeBron was attempting to apologize and say “my bad” when he realized he had hit Stewart, “I don’t know what he was doing, but we weren’t going to allow that,” AD replied when Stewart started charging.
Anthony Davis was the leading scorer for the Lakers tonight with a dominant performance finishing with 30 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks, and 4 steals in 39 minutes played. Jacob Rude reported that Davis joined Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to achieve that stat line before tonight.
Russell Westbrook finished second in scoring for the Lakers, finishing with 26 points on 10 of 21 shooting from the floor while also adding 10 assists and 9 rebounds in the comeback win.
In tonight's victory, Carmelo Anthony was the unsung hero, hitting multiple catch and shoot threes in the 17-point comeback. Anthony finished with 18 points, with all field goals coming from beyond the arc, going 5 for 8 from downtown.
On Tuesday, the Lakers will continue their current five-game road trip to face the 9–7 New York Knicks in their first game of a back-to-back, facing the Pacers on Wednesday right after Tuesday's matchup against the Knicks.