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The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a much-needed win against the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers were led by notable performances from Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James.
This is now the second consecutive win for L.A., and the second game since the return of James back to floor after nursing a foot injury and missing two games. The Lakers were coming off of a four game losing streak prior to the recent back-to-back wins.
Despite securing the 113-100 win, the team faced challenges with their shooting performance. The Lakers shot 40.4 percent from the field, which is below their average over the season.
Also, although the team started out hot with some early sharpshooting from Reaves, the team struggled shooting from beyond the arc, making only 25 percent of their attempts from long range. Reaves had the most efficient offensive performance achieving a 50 percent shooting rate.
The win can be characterized as a an exceptional defensive performance, as defense and rebounding were instrumental in Friday’s win.
Head Coach J.J. Reddick highlights this win as one of his favorites on the season.
”For the group, I really felt like this might be my favorite win we’ve had all season just because we weren’t efficient offensively, but because of our crashing, because we limited them in transition, limited them to one shot, like all of the things that we’ve preached that gives yourself a chance to win every night, when you have an off shooting night, an off offensive night, we did tonight, and just…the group was great.”
The Lakers were dominant on the offensive glass recording 20 offensive boards, and Davis was the man behind a number of those big rebounds. Davis finished the night with 21 points and 20 rebounds, and he continues showcasing dominance on both ends of the floor.
“(AD) was phenomenal tonight,” Redick added. “And it just shows you how elite he is as a player that he can have a 7-for-20 night and still dominate a basketball game.”
At times, Davis struggled to find his rhythm offensively, but second-chance points kept the Lakers in control of the matchup against a solid Kings team. James says it’s important to appreciate the greatness fans are witnessing in the seven-time NBA All-Star.
“I mean, AD is special,” James said. “Don’t take those performances for granted and say, ‘That’s just AD doing AD.’ No. That’s a special talent and a special player. And we needed every last one of those (19) boards.”