The Los Angeles Lakers’ contest on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs was big for multiple reasons. It marked the return of superstar big man Anthony Davis from a foot injury, and it also marked the debut of the team’s newest acquisition, forward Rui Hachimura.
Davis picked up right where he left off as he posted a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds along with four blocks in just 26 minutes off the bench. Hachimura also gave fans a glimpse of what he’s capable of in his debut as well, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.
Afterwards, Davis was excited at the prospects of what Hachimura can bring to this Lakers team. “He’s able to do it all,” Davis said after the Lakers’ nine-point win. “Anytime I played against him in Washington, he made an impact on the game on both ends of the floor. And tonight we got to feature him in a lot of post-ups.
“Knowing that he can do it all. Really good midrange shooter, get to the basket. He’s got a back-to-the-basket game. Face up. Can shoot the ball.”
One area that Hachimura showed off in particular in his debut was his post-up game. In fact, Davis even made note that some of the plays Lakers coach Darvin Ham called for Hachimura were ones usually reserved for him.
“I talked to Coach [Ham] about this, but some of the plays we run for me, we ran for him tonight,” Davis added. “‘AD, you go in the corner.’ Okay. No, but I mean, we just kept running it, I was telling guys to keep going to the action where Rui [Hachimura] really close to the post.
“Just telling him, ‘If they don’t double, you don’t pass. You go to work.’ … So he can really help us on both ends of the floor. Obviously, getting connected with the team is going to take time, but tonight, he was able to fit in really well.”
The chemistry will come in time, but Hachimura undoubtedly has the skillset to fit in with the Lakers. His versatility, along with that of Davis and LeBron James will allow all of them to thrive in all areas depending on the match-up and that makes the Lakers much more dangerous.
Rui Hachimura ‘loved’ the energy in the building for his Lakers debut
Hachimura was also excited to make his debut in purple and gold and one thing that stood out for the newest Laker was the energy inside the Crypto.com Arena.
“Yeah, I loved the energy out there,” Hachimura said. “I think defensively, we were pretty good today. Got a lot of steals and got up and down in transition for easy points. So yeah, but the energy out there was really good. And yeah, was the first one for me. So yeah, it was good.”
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