The Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the playoffs with a 110-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA Play-In Tournament on Tuesday. The Lakers did so despite LeBron James and Anthony Davis not having great nights, and after the game, Davis commended the role players for getting them this win.
"Think me and Bron were 12-for-36 or something like that," Davis said. "(D'Angelo Russell), (Austin Reaves), Rui (Hachimura), (Taurean Prince), Gabe (Vincent), (Jaxson Hayes), those are the guys that really won the game for us.
"Me and Bron sprinkled in some makes every now and then, but the way those guys played, kept us in the game, got us the big lead, and ultimately won the game for us," Davis continued. "That's what we're going to need if teams are going to try take me and Bron away. We need the rest of the guys to play how they played tonight."
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If the pieces around James and Davis play this well the rest of the way, then their opponents would be in a bit of trouble. D'Angelo Russell was the pick of the bunch, as he had 21 points, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block while shooting 7-14 from the field.
Austin Reaves, meanwhile, had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists, and he went 5-11 from the field. Rui Hachimura was the most efficient of the starters, as he went 5-6 from the field and finished the night with 13 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Gabe Vincent (9 points), Taurean Prince (6 points), and Jaxson Hayes (2 points) also made some solid contributions off the bench for the Lakers.
The only Laker role player to struggle was Spencer Dinwiddie, who went scoreless after missing all three of his shots. Still, all those other contributions meant that both James and Davis had a bit of an off night, and by their standards, it didn't cost the Lakers.
Davis had 20 points, 15 rebounds, 1 steal, and 3 blocks, but shot just 6-16 from the field. LeBron was even worse when it came to efficiency, as he went 6-20 to finish with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. As great players tend to do, though, the two stars managed to impact the game in other ways when their shot wasn't falling, which was crucial.
Anthony Davis Has To Step Up Against The Nuggets
By beating the Pelicans, the Lakers have set up a rematch of the 2023 Western Conference Finals in the first round, as they will face the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets, of course, swept the Lakers in that series, with Nikola Jokic outplaying Davis.
If the Lakers are to avoid a repeat and maybe even pull off an unlikely series win, they need their nine-time All-Star to step up. Davis has not played great against the Nuggets this season, having averaged 22.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 3.0 blocks per game in the three meetings between the sides.
Unless Davis ups those numbers, the Lakers are going to lose. It would be unfair to expect the 31-year-old to outplay Jokic, but he needs to play better against the two-time MVP than he has so far this season. Will he do that? I am not completely sure. It is one of the reasons why I would pick the Nuggets to win, but this should be a closer series than the last one.
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