Lakers surge past the Suns behind a 42 point outing from Anthony Davis.
After a gut-wrenching loss to the Blazers on Friday, the Lakers answered back with intensity in tonight’s matchup with the number two seed Phoenix Suns, beating them 123–110 behind a huge 42 point outing from all-star Anthony Davis. With tonight’s much-needed win, the Lakers move their season record to 38–30, still remaining in the 7th seed, one game behind the Portland Trail Blazers in the fight to avoid the playoff play-in spot.
The Lakers were on it tonight on both sides of the ball, hitting 43% of their shots from the three and ending the night with 11 steals. Despite the Suns beating the Lakers in percentages from both the field goal and perimeter, the Lakers were able to win this matchup due to the foul line. The Suns went to the foul line 25 times going 21 for 25 (84%) while the Lakers finished the night with a whopping 41 attempts from the line, the most they have shot all season going 32 for 41 (78%).
Anthony Davis is back! Tonight’s player of the game came from perennial all-star Anthony Davis. In tonight’s win, Davis gave the Lakers a glimpse of his former self, improving each game getting his legs back from a calf strain that sidelined him for almost two months.
In 40 minutes, Davis finished with 42 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists on 13 of 27 (48%) from the field. Davis also added 3 blocks and 3 steals with 15 of his 42 points coming from the free throw, going 15 for 17 (88%) from the charity strike. To cap off the night in his all-star performance, Davis looked like his old self, finishing with a game-high plus/minus of +26. After tonight win, Davis spoke on his feeling on tonight huge performance saying:
“I feel good, I’m getting my legs back, I’m getting my rhythm back and my steps back. I’m getting better each game, we’re headed in the right direction.”
The Lakers second big performer came from backup point guard Alex Caruso, who has had to step up in the starting lineup due to ball handlers LeBron James (High ankle sprain) and Dennis Schröder (COVID protocol) being out of the Lakers lineup. After finishing with a season-high 16 points in Friday’s loss to the Blazers, Caruso capped off tonight’s win with 17 points and 8 assists on 6 of 11 (54.5%) shooting from the field. Caruso also added 3 rebounds and 3 steals with a plus/minus of +9 in his 31 minutes of action. Caruso gave his opinion on the adversity surrounding the Lakers dealing with injuries:
“We’re a good-ass team, when we’re fully healthy and we got our guys rolling, I still think we’re the best team in the world.”
Despite only finishing with 6 points, the Lakers starting center Andre Drummond gave the team a number of second-chance opportunities attacking the glass in tonight’s win. Drummond finished with 10 total rebounds with 8 of those came from the offensive side of the ball.
Staring guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was tied for 2nd in scoring tonight, finishing with 17 points 4 for 9 (44.4%) shooting from the field, all attempts coming from the three. With a plus/minus of +22 tonight, Caldwell-Pope added 3 steals and a pair of assists and rebounds in his 35 minutes of action.
With the playoffs just around the corner, the Lakers have to treat each game as a must-win if they want to avoid the play-in spot. The Lakers will remain at home in a back-to-back home stint starting this Tuesday against the playoff-hungry New York Knicks. The Knicks are currently 38–30 just like the Lakers and coming off a huge win over the Clippers. The confidence is high in New York with all-star power forward Julius Randle leading the pack.