In the past four games, Los Angeles Lakers superstar big man Anthony Davis is averaging 35.5 points, 18.3 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.3 steals all while shooting 62 percent from the field. Sheer domination and historic might be understating adjectives to describe Davis’ recent performances.
While Davis dropped 37 points and 21 rebounds during Tuesday’s loss against the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers faithful can only wonder what this team will play like once LeBron James slides back into the lineup on Friday against the San Antonio Spurs.
Now that the league has taken notice of AD’s recent domination, fellow Lakers teammate Patrick Beverley chimed in on the big man’s jaw-dropping performances. During Tuesday’s postgame presser with Spectrum SportsNet, Beverley gave Davis the credit he deserves for his two-way dominance:
“He’s playing at an extraordinary level right now,” Beverley said. “Guys are sending double teams. You know, I think he’s doing it underrated defensively too which he hasn’t been getting a lot of credit for. Obviously you see offensive rebounds numbers, but he’s been doing it defensively also he’s been our anchor offensively and defensively. We don’t know how long that will be going, but we hope it goes for a long time.”
Beverley himself had an eye-catching performance against the Suns as the guard got ejected in the fourth quarter after shoving DeAndre Ayton to the ground as the big man was towering over the fallen Austin Reaves.
Like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the two parts working together make the consumer happy. With Davis looking like his 2020 self and Beverley bringing out that dog mentality in order to defend his teammates, the Lakers can make their fans happy by raising this level of consistent play.
Max Christie expected to return against Spurs
Another player the Lakers have been without over the last week is Max Christie after the rookie was placed in the NBA’s healthy and safety protocols.
Christie had just entered the Lakers’ rotation so the timing was not ideal although he has reportedly cleared protocols and is expected to return against the Spurs.
Now that the Purple and Gold are nearing full team health, they can hopefully pick up some wins and build chemistry in order to get back into playoff contention.
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