Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis and guard D’Angelo Russell were instrumental in the team getting back on track with a blowout win against the Detroit Pistons. It followed a game in which the Lakers were dominated by the Philadelphia 76ers and star LeBron James said changes needed to be made.
And although the Pistons are arguably at the bottom of the NBA landscape this season, a change was quickly made in the Lakers’ mentality.
The 133-107 victory was apparent from the get go. The Lakers won the first quarter 38-24 and did not let off the gas pedal from there. By the final buzzer, Russell had racked up 35 points on historic efficiency, Davis added 28 points and 16 rebounds of his own and the Lakers had a runaway victory in Detroit.
James spoke about Russell and Davis finding success when offensive inconsistency has been a defining trait of both of their early season report cards, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Some of the sets that we’ve been trying to get better at and work on throughout the season, tonight were able to work. I think DLo and AD got it started obviously with the hot streak they had in the first quarter and then we just all tried to pick it up after that.”
James then took a wider lens to the win, discussing the bounce-back effort and what the Lakers can take away moving forward:
“I think we responded well. I think we played a lot better. I think we gave ourselves a better chance defensively. We got out to a lot of their shooters that we thought could make shots from the perimeter but we also controlled the paint. That was very key… You always have room to improve. We have to improve a lot. We’re only 19 games in, so we have to continue to improve no matter what. We’re not even a fourth of the way through the season yet so we got a lot more room to improve.”
The Lakers work is far from over after handing the Pistons their 15th straight loss. However, there were encouraging signs across the board on Wednesday night that the Lakers could be on to something that will keep them on track for the rest of the season.
Austin Reaves gives honest assessment after blowout loss
The mood around the Lakers was less than ideal following a 44-point blowout at the hands of the 76ers earlier this week. Lakers guard Austin Reaves kept it simple and honest in his assessment.
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