The Los Angeles Lakers secured one of the biggest wins of their season on Friday night when they defeated the Denver Nuggets 126-108. What made the win especially important was LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and several others stepping up after Anthony Davis was lost for the night with an injury.
Davis sustained some type of foot injury in the second quarter, but attempted to play through it, ultimately finishing the half. However, he did not come out for the second half, and Thomas Bryant took his place in the starting lineup.
The Lakers were down by as many as 12 points in the third quarter, but they staged a furious comeback that led to an 18-point victory. After the big win, James spoke about Davis’ status looking forward. “Well, I mean, obviously, health is always first when it comes to any of our teammates, and it doesn’t change with AD,” James said.
“That’s most important, so when we know something, we go from there but wish the best of news for sure. Especially for AD in general.”
Another reason the Lakers getting this win was so important was because of the two blown-lead overtime losses L.A. has suffered in the last week alone. The difference according to James? Defense. “We started to get defensive stops. We were able to get out offensively.
“Even on the break, we were very efficient, and like you said, TB had no idea what he was starting the second half,” said James of Bryant. “He was still on the floor when we was drawing up the play, so for him just to stand ready for him to go out there and give a performance that he had. Russ was phenomenal on both sides of the floor, finding guys all night, defending, rebounding, and big minutes from the rook. Max [Christie] was huge for us.”
It’s arguable that the Lakers got one of their most complete efforts of the season in terms of contributors throughout the roster, especially when Davis was out in the second half. Bryant, Westbrook, Austin Reaves, Troy Brown Jr. and Max Christie all played extremely well in the second half.
“I mean, it’s huge, especially after the heartbreaking loss we had against Boston,” James said of the team effort on Friday night. “For us to come back a couple nights later and, you know, kind of play well at times and then get down and make a rally and guys off the bench making the biggest impact for the game. I think it was huge.
“I mean, like you said, Russ, you know, AR, Troy [Brown Jr.], Max [Christie], and Thomas [Bryant]. They were just phenomenal. I mean, look at it. They’re all in the plus. We needed every single minute. All the minutes we got from them. It was huge.”
The Lakers now await the results of various tests on Davis’ foot injury. Hopefully, he can make a quick return to the court to capitalize on the momentum from a big win. If he’s out for some time, players like Bryant, Brown, Reaves, and Westbrook must continue to play their best basketball in his absence.
L.A. has hope Davis injury is not severe
In a bit of positive news, reports from the Lakers camp on Friday night revealed internal hope that Davis’ injury may not be as bad as originally thought. He’ll undergo an MRI to confirm this line of thought and to get a much clearer sense of his status moving forward.
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