Getty Malik Beasley of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers have high hopes. After a rough start to the season, they’re now looking to make a serious push for the postseason. And with how much talent they added at the trade deadline, they have a real chance to make some noise.
After a brutal loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday, the Lakers picked up a win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. It was a relatively dominant win, and Malik Beasley stepped up and helped LA earn the win. After the game, Anthony Davis showed love to Beasley.
“After shootaround today, he got a lot of threes up, and it showed,” Davis said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “He’s very hard on himself, and as far as shooting the basketball, he never wants to miss two in a row. And he came out on fire. Anytime he’s making shots, it just opens the floor up more for all our guys to get to the basket. Even when he’s missing, I mean, you still got to respect him as a shooter. But when he’s making, he gets very hot, and the rim gets very big for him.”
Beasley was huge for the Lakers on Tuesday night. The wing finished the game with 24 points, two rebounds, three assists, and two steals on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and an impressive 7-of-12 shooting from behind the three-point line.
As for Davis, he was just as dominant in the Lakers win. The big man ended the night with 35 points, 17 rebounds, and one assist on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor and 1-of-2 shooting from deep. He also went 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.
Anthony Davis Shows Love to Teammates
In LA’s loss to the Knicks on Sunday night, Davis struggled on the offensive side of the ball. After the game, Davis gave credit to his teammates while simultaneously taking the blame for the loss.
“Everything,” Davis said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel when asked what he could have done better in the game. “They had a good presence defensively. Offensively, I wasn’t there. Like I said, free throws, layups, the handle, the shots. Just everything offensively. Guys played well tonight. Did their jobs. Dennis [Schroder], D-Lo [D’Angelo Russell], Austin [Reaves], Wenyen [Gabriel], Rui [Hachimura] – all these guys did more than enough to help win the game. I didn’t do my part.”’
Lakers Receive LeBron James Injury Update
In other news, the Lakers could be getting LeBron James back before the end of the season. According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, James is making serious progress toward a return.
“Despite seeing their three-game winning streak come to an end, there was one positive development for the Lakers on Sunday,” McMenamin wrote on March 12. “LeBron James rejoined the team after being on a medically excused absence in the past week. The 20-year veteran is no longer wearing a walking boot. The tendon injury in his right foot will be reevaluated in approximately a week and a half, according to the team.”