Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Lessons from win over Oklahoma City Thunder
By Ronald Agers
Los Angeles Lakers fans! Welcome back Anthony Davis!
Folks, Anthony Davis actually scared Danilo Gallinari to death in this game. Seriously, this is not joke. It’s not trash talking. Lakers color announcer, Stu Lantz noticed and brought this fact to attention throughout the game. When Gallinari had to guard AD, he basically moved out of harm’s way.
Perfect example here.
Anthony Davis hits Stephen Adams with a hesitation move an blows by him. Poor Gallinari puts up a poor attempt to try to block his shot. I wouldn’t want to be him in the film session. He didn’t even try.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1197021143992913920
In he second half, AD drove the ball to the basket for a dunk and Gallinari moved out-of-the-way not even wanting to get in the man’s way.
This play here was interesting. After the dunk, watch AD’s foot as it kicks Nerlens Noel on the side of his head.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1197023455926861825
After the play, Dennis Schroder, who wasn’t even in the play, had words with Anthony Davis. What’s funny is that Noel didn’t even seem to care until all of the ruckus started. When all was said and done, Schroder ended up with a technical foul and it turned into a four-point trip for the Lakers.
Davis destroyed the Thunder front line to the tune of 34 points, 7 rebounds (3 offensive!), 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. What was most impressive was his shooting stroke from beyond the arc.
Davis mentioned his shoulder has been improving and it showed. He knocked down three of his five attempts for his best shooting night of the season. Frank Vogel talked about getting the ball to AD in positions where he could be effective. It worked from the outside because most of his 3 point shots were from straight away in the flow of the offense.
We’ve talked about the stars. Let’s look at the issues that needs to be cleaned up.