Anthony Davis Pleased With How Lakers Are Playing Ahead Of LeBron James’ Potential Return

Anthony Davis couldn’t carry the Los Angeles Lakers to a fourth straight win despite another excellent performance in the 115-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Davis ended the night with 37 points, 21 rebounds, five steals, and five blocks, a packed stat line no one has ever been able to record before in the NBA. But the Purple and Gold’s shooting let them down again as they only made 18.2% of their 3-point attempts on Tuesday.

Davis thinks the Lakers did well against Phoenix overall, but because the shots didn’t want to fall, they didn’t get a win, per Spectrum SportsNet:

“Yeah, I mean, we were 4-for-22 from 3 tonight. We haven’t shot the ball like that since early in the year so I think we played pretty good defense. I mean, besides third quarter, we had some, some turnovers and some questionable shots, and they scored 33. Other than that, we were pretty good defensively. But, you know, we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight from 3. Usually, the past couple games, last couple weeks, we’ve been shooting the ball very well. Shots didn’t fall tonight but I think we were pretty good overall. We had some good looks that didn’t drop.”

Davis thinks the Lakers have improved since the poor start of the season, even without LeBron James — who’s missed five games with a strained adductor. But the 29-year-old forward doesn’t want James to rush his comeback as it could cost him — and L.A. — in the long term:

“I like it where we’ve been, you know, the last three games. I think we played well, tonight. We just didn’t make shots. I’m not certain when he’s coming back. Obviously, you know, dealing with groin, it’s how he feel. I know he’s working out and trying to get back each and every day. So hopefully we get him back on this trip. But, you know, we won basketball games, you know, without them without him. We won basketball games with him. I mean, obviously, it’s always great to have him in a lineup so we can start really getting our chemistry down, especially with [Dennis Schroder] and [Thomas Bryant] coming back. I think that’s the biggest thing just for that piece, but we want him to take his time. Still kind of early, you know, we don’t him to try to… if he’s feeling anything, go out there and now it’s something else and, knock on wood, out for a bit. It lingers onto something else. So take his time and we’ll try to hold it down as long as we can until he’s going to be able to get be back.”

Reports claim James could return to the court on Friday when the Lakers take on the San Antonio Spurs away from home.

Davis played with numbness in left arm against Suns after hitting funny bone

Davis said he played with numbness in his left arm and lost feeling in his hand and fingers during the loss to Phoenix. The forward explained he likely hit his funny bone when he fell to the ground, causing the numbness.

“But it’s my left hand so I didn’t really need it much tonight,” Davis added. “It is what it is.”