Finally, the Los Angeles Lakers were able to get back in the win column, snapping a three-game losing streak, minus LeBron James, who was out again with a sore right ankle.
The Lakers were also without starting point guard Dennis Schroder, who is out for 10-14 days as a result of the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Despite it all, the Lakers were able to overtake the Nuggets 93-89 in a potential playoff preview.
Anthony Davis led the way, finishing with 25 points, seven rebounds and making key plays down the stretch that propelled the Lakers to victory. Davis knew he had to come up big with James and Schroder out. That’s exactly what he did.
“I know with LeBron and Dennis out the team counts on me more. I made the effort to come out and play with pace,” Davis said. “It was good to see us play our style of basketball. We have to feed off this game.”
Other Lakers stepped up as well. None offered huge outputs statistically, but they all did what they needed to do and pulled their weight in order to will the Lakers to victory.
Alex Caruso scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Marc Gasol came off the bench and scored 10 points and grabbed seven boards of his own. Talen Horton-Tucker had 10 points off of the bench as well.
The Lakers are back in action against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday at the Staples Center. This game as well is a potential playoff matchup.
If the season were to end today, these two teams would face each other in the first round.
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