There have been plenty of high and low moments throughout the partnership of LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Los Angeles Lakers. While the first season together resulted in a championship, more has been left to be desired due to the standards attached to this franchise.
Every year boils down to how healthy both James and Davis are heading into the postseason, something that has been in question due to recent nagging injuries impacting the two stars. However, this season featured a flip of the script where both of them were exceptionally available to win as many games as possible.
Yet, L.A. could not outrun their self-inflicted wounds from earlier in the year to avoid the Play-In Tournament. When reflecting on this season as a whole, Davis characterized this as an up and down one, which is a fitting description, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“It’s been an up and down season. We’ve had our highs, we’ve had our lows, we’ve had our share of injuries. But like you said, 12 games over .500, obviously we don’t want to be in this position but we are and we’re gonna make the best of it one game at a time starting Tuesday. But it’s definitely been and up and down seasons for us, but it’s been fun at the same time.”
One bright spot is Davis playing a career-high 77 games after struggling to stay on the floor the previous three years. It’s a great accomplishment given the injury history, but the All-Star center credited it to avoiding injuries that were out of his control:
“I just felt good this summer, felt good coming into the season. The past couple years I’ve had injuries that randomly happened that I couldn’t control. But I think for the most part this year, my goal was to play all 82 but obviously I had the ankle and the Achilles thing, but for the most part, I felt great this year. I felt fine and was able to step on the floor for 76 games.”
As a possible postseason run looms for the Lakers, it is great to see Davis in good health as the team only goes as far as he takes them. When it comes to the playoffs, it boils down to the star power and it does not get a lot better than James and Davis, who have proven that they’re good enough to win any series.
Anthony Davis: ‘Defensive intensity’ is key to Lakers defeating Pelicans in Play-In Tournament
Defense is something that has been lacking for L.A. since the All-Star break, but on Sunday, the purple and gold looked engaged on the defensive end. Now with a rematch against New Orleans in the Play-In Tournament, Davis believes keeping that defensive intensity will be key in advancing.
More must-reads: