The key to almost every win during the 2023 NBA Playoffs for the Los Angeles Lakers has been the two-way dominance of Anthony Davis.
Davis, so far, has been the best player for the Lakers and has had a major hand in getting them to the second round of the postseason. In Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors, Davis was a man on a mission on both ends of the floor and resulted in Los Angeles taking a 1-0 series lead. However, the confounding pattern of a letdown game after a massive performance continued into Game 2 as Davis was largely muted for the night.
The Warriors understand that taking Davis out of the game is what’ll give them the best shot to beat the Lakers and Draymond Green explained that he and the team have made it a point to make anything he gets offensively tough.
“I mean, it’s very important. You know, AD is a great player, and when you allow him to get to the spots he want to get to, there’s a reason he wants to get to those spots. He’s great at it, and he’s not going to miss many. When you try to make him do things on our terms, make it a little bit tougher.
“Now in saying that, you can play that same defense and he can have a great game and that’s why he’s great and that’s why he’s been great for this long. But I think for us, we’ve just got to make them take tough contested shots. If you do the best you can do defensively, you have to live with the result.”
For Game 2, Golden State deployed a smaller lineup to start the game which left Green on Davis. Green is one of the best defenders of this era and made it difficult for Davis to get to his preferred spots on the floor. Green’s defense limited the Lakers star to just 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, a far cry from his 30-point outburst in Game 1.
Darvin Ham has already admitted that L.A. needs to be better about moving Davis around to get him the basketball in better spots, so it’ll be interesting to see what they come up with for Game 3 on Saturday.
Klay Thompson grateful to be playing in same arena he grew up watching Kobe Bryant
The Warriors players have immense respect for the Lakers, but Klay Thompson might be the most appreciative of this series considering his connections to the franchise and the City of Los Angeles. Ahead of Game 3, Thompson expressed how grateful he is to be playing a playoff game in the same arena he grew up watching Kobe Bryant in.
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