The Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night marked the debut of Spencer Dinwiddie. The point guard struggled offensively shooting just 2-of-6 from the field, but added seven assists and two steals in a solid performance overall.
LeBron James led the way with 25 points while Anthony Davis dominated both ends with 20 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks in the victory.
For Dinwiddie, it was his first chance to share the court with LeBron and Davis and what stood out to him about the latter was his outstanding defensive ability. “AD defensively, he cleans up a ton of stuff,” Dinwiddie said after his Lakers debut.
“You saw it on the 3-on-1 break. I was joking with Taurean on the bench, nobody even got back. They were just like ‘Ah, he got it.’ And then he gets the block and comes up with it and was about to have the outlet pass before he got fouled. That was huge.”
Davis’ defense was on full display against Detroit and that dominance was a huge part in the Lakers picking up another win. Dinwiddie is a solid defender already, capable of guarding both backcourt positions, but having Davis behind him allows him to change how he plays on that end of the court.
“Yeah, I think he just opens it up for you to be more aggressive. Take some educated gambles,” Dinwiddie added. “Obviously like you said, we don’t want to put him in tough spots but understanding that he is so sensational on that end especially, hopefully we could generate some more turnovers and some more free baskets for our own team just being aggressive and trying to get some steals and get out in transition.”
It’s safe to say that Dinwiddie has never played with a rim protector quite the caliber of Davis and now that he has the chance, he will take full advantage of the freedom it allows to make some plays and get easy buckets for the Lakers off those turnovers created.
Lakers’ Spencer Dinwiddie looking forward to learning from LeBron James
Spencer Dinwiddie’s time with the Lakers is only just beginning, but he understands the opportunity he has in front of him not only to play with Anthony Davis, but also LeBron James. And he is looking forward to learning from arguably the greatest player in NBA history.
“Again, I’ve said this a ton, LeBron has the greatest career of all time,” Dinwiddie noted. “So to be able to be around from somebody like that, learn from somebody like that and see how he goes about his day, his routine, his recovery, on top of obviously the special things he does on the floor. It’s big time to be able to learn from somebody who, shoot, is about to have 40,000 points.”
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