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Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis said he just “knew”.
Davis finished the win over OKC with 24 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and one steal. It was a strong bounce-back performance from his 17-point, 11-rebound “dud” against the Denver Nuggets on March 2.
But the Lakers also got key contributions from their starting backcourt. D’Angelo Russell finished with 26 points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists, and one block, drawing Davis’ praise.
Russell was 5-for-11 from beyond the arc, including a personal 9-2 run in the fourth quarter.
“That’s what he do. He’s shown that he can get hot any point in game. And when he made the first two, we kind of knew the third one was going up,” Davis said about Russell. “He tried to play like he didn’t want to shoot and threw it to Bron [LeBron James], and Bron gave it right back to him just knowing.”
“I knew it was going in. I was already standing up when they scored, and he kind of pushed the ball up the floor.
“He’s able to get it going and kind of just fuels our offense.”
Austin Reaves Limits Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Russell’s backcourt mate Austin Reaves had a solid all-around game in his own right. He finished the contest with 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and one steal. He also played some solid defense.
Reaves is credited with holding Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 0-for-3 shooting in their nearly five minutes matched up, per NBA.com matchup data.
Reaves’ other assignments, which included 2022-23 All-Rookie wing Jalen Williams and 2022 No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren, combined to go 1-for-7 from the floor when he guarded them.
“He did a great job moving his feet,” Davis said of the Lakers guard. “Knowing that Shai likes to get to his reverse between – kind of like a little push-off – and you know get to his middy or get to the lane, use his pump fakes, and draw fouls and things like that.
“I think we did a good job not putting them on the line. They’re already going to make tough shots. But you don’t want to combat that with putting them on the line as well, now they kind of get it going. So he did a great job starting off on him of just making it tough for him and funneling him to our defense and getting great contests.
“AR did a good job.”
Anthony Davis: Lakers Must ‘Take Care of Business’ vs Kings
Davis is taking it one game at a time. But he didn’t try to undersell the significance of the Lakers’ matchup against the Sacramento Kings on March 6.
He even noted their following meeting, which is on the road on March 13.
Sacramento sits 1.5 games ahead of the Lakers for seventh place in the Western Conference standings. The Lakers can make up ground in a Play-In Tournament race that also includes the Dallas Mavericks – who sit between the Kings and Lakers – and Golden State Warriors.
“That’s a very important game,” Davis told reporters on March 4, following the Lakers’ 116-104 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. “We play them twice within the next week or so, so that’s going to be a big game. And then the one next week is going to be a big game, so we got to come in and take care of business.”
The Kings are coming off blowing a 22-point lead and losing 113-109 to the Chicago Bulls on March 4. They have also lost three of their last four outings.
They have won both previous meetings against the Lakers this season.
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