Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis recently talked about the team’s success against Western Conference foes.
Los Angeles Lakers power forward Anthony Davis has been a breath of fresh air in the literal sense of the term for the Lakers this season. It seems like even when the team is not playing its best game, Davis has been that kind of guy that makes one feel like the Lakers always have a chance to win. He has truly been a beacon of hope for Los Angeles.
Scattered throughout 41 appearances, Davis has wowed fans with his inside and outside offensive repertoire. In fact, as of when this was written, AD leads the team in points at 26.6 points per contest.
Moreover, the following statistic is worth noting. The big man has been quite effective from the charity stripe this year and is sporting an 86.6 percent clip from there. That mark represents a career-high for AD and demonstrates that L.A. can rely on him in clutch situations.
The Brow’s defense has been even more impressive up to this juncture. He has done everything the Lakers could have possibly hoped to get him from him in this realm.
What has stood out is just how active and disruptive he is. Davis fits the mold of what an “every possession” kind of player typifies. What is meant by this is that the man is constantly making the lives of the opposition more difficult.
Davis has been a bona fide rim protector and is averaging 2.5 blocks per game as of when this was written. His well above average length has likewise caused many altered shots, something that is not even visible in a box score.
He has always been an awesome defender, but AD has appeared to have more pride than normal in this area. The Lakers have high aspirations this season, and Davis has not been afraid to call out the team in postgame interviews if he feels the defensive effort could have been better.
The seven-time All-Star had yet another fine performance in the Lakers’ recent win on Saturday. He tallied 21 points on just nine shots, provided that he was excellent from the free-throw line. Davis, to no surprise, contributed a little bit in most other facets of the game as well.
He did not necessarily have his best rebounding performance of all-time, only snatching four in the process. However, he collected six dimes, a pair of steals, and one block against the Kings.
Following the victory over Sacramento, the Lakers’ big man talked about the team’s overwhelming success against Western Conference foes. Matt Peralta of Lakers Nation transcribed Davis’ thoughts on the subject (originally via Spectrum SportsNet).
"“We’re gonna have to get through one of these teams… maybe three of them. We just wanna make sure we lock in on the road no matter what it’s Eastern Conference, Western Conference. Obviously we see these guys a lot and one of these teams is going to be the… well couple of these teams the teams that we’re going to see in the playoffs.It’s good to get wins on them and just kinda feel good about ourselves going into any series, but no one caught wind of that. But we just try to go out and be as dominant as we can every night no matter who the opponent is or what conference and come out and get the win.”"
What Davis articulated should give fans a dose of comfort moving forward. The Lakers understand that winning away from Staples Center will likely dictate how far they make it this year. It is important that they are instilling this mindset within themselves now in order to prepare for what lies ahead.
Indeed, as the former Pelican said, the Lakers are inevitably going to face Western Conference opponents when it really matters. Thus, for the purple and gold to find motivation in that alone says a lot about their fabric.
Certainly, winning on the road is never an easy thing to accomplish. To this very day, certain road fans will enthusiastically chant “Beat LA!” until their vocal cords get tired.
There is a certain level of beauty that exists in that, though. Learning how to channel negative words in a positive way can soon lead to opposing fans having no choice but to be silent. In terms of the Lakers, they just seem to not be as fazed as the average group.
Despite how tough it can be to win on the road, the Lakers managed to make history on Saturday evening. According to Peralta, they have now earned 15 straight victories away from home versus Western Conference teams, the best streak of all-time.
In a perfect world, one can only hope the Lakers continue to do well against opponents on the road in general. The 16-time champions are 21-5 away from Staples Center, which is a mighty robust record, to say the least.
The team’s next game outside of Los Angeles will be this Saturday, February 8. The No. 1 seed in the West will be in Golden State with the chance to extend what is already a remarkable streak.