After one preseason game, it is clear that stopping the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Los Angeles Lakers will be difficult.
With the preseason underway for the Los Angeles Lakers, there is a lot of excitement and optimism surrounding the team.
In the last two summers, the Lakers have been able to add two true superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. While James has played with some great players over the course of his career, Davis is a superstar that is in his prime.
James can be one of the best players in the NBA to play with, as he is one of the best passers in the league. Arguably, James’ best trait as a basketball player is his court vision. While Davis is one of the best players in the NBA, he has never had a teammate like James.
There has been a lot of speculation about how the two will perform together, and the early results look good. After the win over the Golden State Warriors, Davis spoke with reporters about him and James being a difficult duo to cover. Here’s what he said via Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen and Roll.
"“It’s tough to cover. You’ve got a guy like him going downhill and a guy like me who’s rolling, who’s a lob threat — you’ve got to pick your poison. You know he’s getting to his strong hand, he’s in the paint and then you got me rolling behind, so either he’s going to go finish, pass or a lob, especially when it’s a clear like that. It’s a tough play to guard.”"
Neither James or Davis played a ton, as each logged just 18 minutes. However, it was clear that the two are going to be exciting to watch this season. In 18 minutes, Davis scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. James was able to score 15 points and dished out eight assists in the win.
Considering this was just the beginning, there is certainly reason to believe that the duo will get only better. Unlike some of the other elite duos in the Western Conference, James and Davis’ games seem like they will blend a lot easier than others. A big part of that is James’ ability to set up teammates on the pick-and-roll. Also, it doesn’t hurt that Davis is one of the best pick-and-roll big men in the league.
The Lakers are off to China for their next two preseason games. Hopefully, we will see more of the same from the first game of the preseason.