Getty D'Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers.
With the playoffs and the Play-In Tournament right around the corner, the Los Angeles Lakers need to keep their eyes on the prize. They have a chance to make a serious postseason push thanks to their plethora of trade deadline moves, and they should not waste said chance.
On Friday night, they took down a short-handed Phoenix Suns team in a crucial game in regard to the Western Conference standings. After the game, Anthony Davis praised D’Angelo Russell and the other Lakers shooters for their floor-spacing against Phoenix.
“We’re not going to always shoot the ball well,” Davis said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “Bron struggled tonight, I struggled tonight shooting the ball. But we have a complete team. Beas [Malik Beasley] shot the ball pretty well. D-Lo, Troy [Brown Jr.], [and] Austin [Reaves]. The depth on our team is really strong where Bron has 16, I had 14, and we were still able to get a very convincing win.”
Russell came in clutch for the Lakers against the Suns. He ended the game with 24 points, three rebounds, and three assists on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor and 6-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point line.
As for Davis, he had somewhat of an off-night against the Suns. He finished the night with 14 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks on 4-of-12 shooting from the field and 0-of-1 shooting from distance.
LeBron James Praises Malik Beasley
In addition, LeBron James sent a similar message to the one Davis sent, praising the Lakers’ role players. He gave a shoutout to Malik Beasley and some of his other teammates for their play against Phoenix.
“Well, I mean, there’s nobody that they can really just key on,” James explained via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “They can’t just key on AD. They can’t just key on me. When you have Beas [Beasley] shooting the way he was shooting tonight. You got D-Lo shooting the ball at a high rate. You got AR, who’s been playing exceptional all season. Just keeps the defense always at bay.”
Having multiple other players on the roster who can take pressure off of James and Davis in the scoring column gives LA a huge boost, and before their deadline trades, they didn’t have that.
Anthony Davis Sounds Off on Mo Bamba
Meanwhile, after the Lakers’ recent loss to the LA Clippers, Davis spoke about the importance of team chemistry. He said that the Lakers need to continue to build it now that Mo Bamba is back, as it will be important heading into the postseason.
“I probably had it in my mind that I was going to play regardless just because of the game. But I think we gained more chemistry,” Davis said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “Even though it’s not the result we wanted, we were able to get a healthy squat. Even though Mo didn’t play, just getting him back. Getting all our guys back and healthy and getting reps out on the floor for these last two games and then leading into the playoffs.”
