The Los Angeles Lakers ran away with a 13-point victory over the Golden State Warriors in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated to kick off the final stretch of the season. Making the win more impressive was the fact that Anthony Davis and LeBron James struggled, yet it didn’t matter because of the performances of players such as Malik Beasley and Austin Reaves.
In fact, Beasley’s team-high 25 points equaled the combined total of LeBron and Davis while Reaves scored 11 of his 17 points in the third quarter to spark a run that would put the game away for good. The Lakers also got double-digit performances from Dennis Schroder, Mo Bamba and Rui Hachimura and Beasley believes this is proof of the depth the Lakers now have.
“It definitely could be any guy. We’re deep as a team,” Beasley said after the win. “We’ve got starters coming off the bench. Just the fact that DLo didn’t even finish the game, we’ve got so many threats. Like you said, AD and LeBron didn’t get going as much as they wanted to tonight. But we’re deep and I think that’s the statement we’re going to make. If it’s not one player, it’s another player any given night.”
As Beasley noted, D’Angelo Russell left the game in the first half with a sprained ankle and the Lakers didn’t blink twice as they ran away with the win.
Beasley’s seven 3-pointers were impressive and it was definitely helped by the quality of looks he received by playing alongside the Lakers’ two stars.
“It’s tough to double both of them and then rotate all game, so that’s where I look to be, in the corner or the slot so I can get those shots,” Beasley said. “I know it’s coming so that’s what I’m prepared for every game, getting my footwork right and ready to shoot the ball, especially when there’s a closeout.”
Davis himself would even share a story from shootaround about Beasley passing up a shot to feed him and Davis throwing the ball back at him telling him to shoot. The leadership of the Lakers’ stars to implore and encourage Beasley to shoot undoubtedly does wonders for his confidence which helps the team overall.
And even though this group of players is just coming together, Beasley loves the energy surrounding this team. “I would describe it as great. Immaculate,” the Lakers wing added. “Even though we’re in a tough position right now, we see that as a challenge and we like challenges. And like I said before, we kind of made a statement tonight that we’re ready to make this playoff push and do what we got to do.”
If the Lakers can keep playing at this level, they will not only make a push to the playoffs, but be extremely difficult to deal with once they get there.
Anthony Davis says lesser workload on him and LeBron James is huge
The most important thing this Lakers victory showed is that the team doesn’t have to be quite as reliant on LeBron James and Anthony Davis as they had been earlier in the year. Obviously the two still drive the team, but the Lakers have more players capable of stepping up and making an impact.
This lessens the workload on the two stars overall which is something Davis believes is extremely important. “It’s very huge,” Davis said.
“Especially as we’re getting closer and closer down the stretch, our minutes are going to increase so if we can come out and do what we’re supposed to do early, put teams away and give ourselves a chance to rest even more and other starters as well, and then also gives a chance for our other guys like Wenyen and Lonnie, D. Reed to go out and get a rhythm as well because you never know when you need those guys too. So it’s always good to be able to sit out in the fourth quarter with a convincing lead.”
The Lakers haven’t had many chances to rest LeBron and Davis down the stretch, but have now done so in consecutive games, a great sign for the team moving forward.
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