The Los Angeles Lakers’ road trip has seen them face off with one of the best young stars in the NBA in Minnesota Timberwolves wing Anthony Edwards. With LeBron James sitting out, the onus was on Anthony Davis to lead the charge for the Lakers and both he and Edwards acquitted themselves well.
Davis led the Lakers with 31 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Edwards, meanwhile, finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals and, most importantly, his Timberwolves came away with a 118-111 win.
Edwards did previously have a connection with the two Lakers stars as he was represented by Klutch Sports, but has since left to join WME Sports. Nonetheless, Davis had a lot of praise for the Timberwolves star, calling him a great talent, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Obviously we had the same agent until he left, but yeah, he’s a great talent. The things he’s doing right now, things like leading their team, is fun to watch. He can score with the best of them, he can defend with the best of them. So we’ve seen him rise and what he’s able to do is good for our league.”
The rise of Edwards has come rapidly as he has led the Timberwolves to the best record in the Western Conference with greatly improved play on both sides of the court. He is basically a lock to make his second consecutive All-Star team and will almost certainly make his first All-NBA team this year should things continue as they have.
As a former No. 1 pick himself, Davis understands the pressure that comes with that and went through his own rise as he developed and figured out his game. The Lakers star sees the talent Edwards possesses and knows his rise is good for the NBA overall as he is one of the players poised to lead the next generation.
Anthony Davis says Lakers must treat game vs. Thunder as a must-win
While Davis recognizes Edwards’ talent, his current focus is on the Lakers turning things around after their fourth consecutive loss. Things don’t get any easier for the Lakers as they finish up their road trip in Oklahoma City against the Thunder in a game Davis feels they must have.
Davis says the Lakers need to treat Saturday night’s contest as a must-win game and play with great effort and energy in order to snap this losing streak and begin turning things back around.
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