The Los Angeles Lakers finally ended their preseason drought on Sunday night, beating the Golden State Warriors on the road 124-121.
The Lakers were able to win despite missing some key players like LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley.
Anthony Davis returned to action after missing the last two games with minor back tightness and looked like the 2019-20 version of himself. Davis was scoring from all over the floor, knocking down jumpers and finishing dunks to the tune of 28 points in 21 minutes.
He shot 9-for-18 from the field, including 2-for-4 from 3 and 8-for-8 from the free throw line, also adding three rebounds, three assists and a block.
Davis came out early in the third quarter so it was up to other Lakers players to complete the victory, and they did just that.
Kendrick Nunn continued his hot start to the preseason with 21 points, four rebounds and seven assists off the bench. Lonnie Walker IV also looked more comfortable in his second game, contributing 14 points and four assists after entering the starting lineup for the first time.
Perhaps the most unexpected but welcomed contribution for L.A. came from Matt Ryan off the bench. The sharpshooter got it going from deep and finished with 20 points on 6-of-9 from deep. He also made the final free throws to ice the victory.
The Warriors were led by their starting backcourt of Stephen Curry and Jordan Poole, who had 24 and 25 points, respectively. After the Lakers took a double-digit lead, they brought the Warriors back in the third quarter to make it close.
up next for the Lakers…
The Lakers close out the preseason against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on Wednesday and then the Sacramento Kings on the road on Friday.
While the Lakers’ full lineup has hardly logged any minutes together, Darvin Ham said he expects to go with more of a regular-season rotation in those final two preseason games.
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