Austin Reaves Sends Strong Message to Anthony Davis Following Lakers Win

On March 7, the Los Angeles Lakers overcame the Memphis Grizzlies to mark their third win in their last four games.

When speaking to the media following the Lakers victory, fan-favorite guard Austin Reaves spoke glowingly about the performance of Anthony Davis, noting how the superstar has been ‘an animal’ of late.

“He was an animal again, on both sides of the floor. You know, that’s what we need from him right now. Bron’s out. D’Lo’s out. So, this is his team right now, and in the last five games or whatever, he’s done nothing but be spectacular and that’s the Anthony Davis we know. We expect him to continue to do it,” Reaves said.

Davis ended the game against Memphis with 30 points, 22 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 64.7% from the field and 50% from deep. Los Angeles now finds themselves sitting ninth in the Western Conference, two games behind the sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors who are tied for fifth with the Dallas Mavericks. 

Anthony Davis Heaps Praise on Jarred Vanderbilt

Since joining the Lakers at the February 9 trade deadline, Jarred Vanderbilt has proven to be an impressive addition to his new team’s rotation, especially on the defensive end. Following the Lakers’ March 7 victory, Davis used his post-game press conference to heap praise onto Vanderbilt and his team’s overall effort on the defensive end.

“Communication. [We] haven’t had much practice time, but when you have constant communication between the group, [it] tends to work out,” Davis said, “We’ve been playing extremely hard, but that kind of covers up for a lot of mistakes. So him [Vanderbilt] being a defensive guy, you know, myself, and then you add Dennis [Schroder], and AR [Austin Reaves], and all these other guys that might not seem like defensive guys, but when you got a group of defensive guys around you, it only sparks that. So, it’s been fun. It’s been fun holding teams below their average. And that’s what we thrive at our best – getting stops and running. So, we got to continue to do that.”

D’Angelo Russell Could Return to Lakers Rotation Soon

According to a March 7 report by Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet, the Lakers are ‘hopeful’ that D’Angelo Russell can return from injury in time to face the Toronto Raptors on Friday, March 10.

“Lakers are hopeful D’Angelo Russell will be able to return for Friday’s game; he’ll go through a scrimmage-type setting tomorrow and they’ll see how he responds,” Trudell reported.

Russell has only participated in four games for the Lakers since returning to the franchise as part of the three-team deal that saw Russell Westbrook sent to the Utah Jazz, so the Lakers front office will be hoping he can bounce back from injury to help lead his teams charge up the Western Conference standings, as the Lakers try to qualify for the playoffs without the need for the play-in tournament.