LA Lakers star Anthony Davis is looking to fill the void left by injured LeBron James
The Los Angeles Lakers are quietly improving their record. After a horrible start to the 2022-23 NBA season, the LA Lakers now stand (5-10) and are 13th in the Western Conference.
It might be a slow start for the Lakers but the rapid improvement is credited to a lot of factors. The last game of Lakers against the San Antonio Spurs really showcased the potential that the Lakers hold. The Lakers won the game 123-92 and much of the game is owed to superstar Anthony Davis.
Notably, Davis was the team’s highest scorer, having a massive 30-point game with 18 rebounds. With LeBron James missing his fourth straight game because of a strained left groin, Davis took on a bigger role to help secure the Lakers dub.
Anthony Davis on taking the bigger role because of LeBron James’ absence
In the last NBA season of 2021-22, Anthony Davis suffered a left knee injury that sidelined him for more than a month.
During AD’s absence, King James assumed the bigger role and highly increased his scoring average to help the team. James had an incredible seven straight games of 30-plus points, and topped 30 in 11 out of 12 games overall to help the LA Lakers in every way.
In this season, that is the 2022-23 NBA season, the case has reversed as LBJ is sidelined due to injury, and AD is taking on the bigger responsibility. In short, Davis is doing his best to return the favor this season.
With the win over SA Spurs, the Lakers now have their third straight win, with an improved record of 5-10.
Davis has been monumental in these wins. He’s averaging 35 points on 61.7% shooting overall and 91.2% shooting from the free throw line along with 17.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks over the past three games.
Further, Davis made a new record. Joining Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Shaquille O’Neal, Anthony Davis is now the third player in Lakers history to record at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in three straight games.
Talking about the performance due to James’ absence, Davis said, “Obviously when he’s out, or if I’m out, we take it upon ourselves to kind of, as much as we can, fill that void.” Davis also said that he had the intention of taking on more of the load to buy James more time to recover but he did not specifically plan it as payback for what James did last season.
Looks like Davis is getting back to his usual rhythm. When LBJ comes back, the dynamic duo of James and AD will again be in action.
This will be the time when LA Lakers will be most lethal. With many more games to go, the Lakers might pull off a decent season if they don’t have any recurring injury problems.
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