Getty Lakers stars Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis
After the Los Angeles Lakers bounced the Golden State Warriors from the playoffs on May 12, Anthony Davis was asked to talk about Austin Reaves, who had a strong Game 6.
The shooting guard had 23 points in 39 minutes and hit a half-court buzzer-beater at the end of the second quarter to give the Lakers a 10-point lead going into halftime.
“Yeah, we have a lot of confidence in Austin,” Davis said. “He has a lot of confidence in hisself. He wants to take big shots. He makes big shots. Coach always tells us a lot of guys try to not mess up their percentage and not shoot it, but he always tells us to let it go cuz you never know what will happen. And tonight, he ends up making it. But he hit some timely buckets for us. And not just tonight, but throughout the course of the series. And last series and throughout the course of the season. So he found his groove. He’s playing well. We definitely gonna need him next series as well.”
Reaves shot 7-of-12 from the field, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line in Game 6. The rising star averaged 14.3 points in the Warriors series while shooting 45.2% from 3-point land. Los Angeles eliminated Golden State in six games to advance to the conference finals, where the purple and gold will face Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in a rematch of the 2020 Western Conference Finals.
Davis, who suffered a head injury in Game 5, finished with 17 points, 20 rebounds and two blocks in Game 6. The eight-time All-Star averaged 21.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in the six-game series versus the Warriors.
Anthony Davis: I Felt Fine in Game 6
Davis said he felt “fine” in Game 6. The Chicago native was a force on both ends of the court and helped the Lakers beat the Warriors by a final score of 122-101.
“I felt fine,” Davis said. “The times that they beat us, they got a lot of offensive rebounds and kick out for 3s or getting second-chance points. So just wanted to have an emphasis on rebounding the basketball and limit their offensive rebounding. They got a couple, but I just wanted to make sure I did my part and try and get every rebound possible on both ends of the floor. But mainly defensively to limit them from those second-chance points where they’re most deadly.”
Davis leads the 2023 postseason in rebounds per game and blocks per game. The future Hall of Famer is averaging 21.2 points, 14.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocks against the Memphis Grizzlies and Warriors.
Stephen Curry on LeBron James: ‘He’s an Amazing Basketball Player’
During his postgame media session, Warriors point guard Stephen Curry was asked to speak about his rivalry with Lakers forward LeBron James. The two superstars have faced each other in four NBA Finals and now one playoff series.
“I mean, it’s just a battle every time,” Curry said. “And I know there are a lot of different narratives within each of the series that we’ve had and different teams and teammates and all the above. But it’s just great basketball, great competition. Understanding who LeBron is and who he’s been his entire career and the accolades and the championships he’s won and the records that he has. Like, he’s an amazing basketball player. And he brings the best out of you and you know you have to be your best if you’re gonna try and beat him. And I think he feels vice versa.
“And so you love those experiences. Somebody’s gotta win and it’s part of the nature of what we’re dealing with. But there’s so much respect. And again, appreciation for the battles and experiences and the back and forths cuz it’s basketball at the highest level and that’s all you can ask for.”