Anthony Davis started really slow in the first half and it hurt the Los Angeles Lakers.
Anthony Davis had a rough go of it in the first half only 1-of-6 shooting. Should this be an issue for a player who almost jumped in a zone to finish with 26 points and 8 rebounds while going 4-of-8 from 3-point range? Sure, when the most of the roster did little to nothing on both ends of the floor to make a contribution. AD scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half. In the 4th quarter, he spearheaded a 14-5 run in the last five minutes when Brooklyn had a 97-88 lead with six minutes to play. Davis continued his march to Defensive Player of the Year leading the Lakers charge on defense
Plus he led the charge with hustle plays on offense.
What’s stronger, his will or his skill? pic.twitter.com/KjCQK9p2uC
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 11, 2020
Then he hit a tying 3-pointer with 42 seconds left on a setup from James. At this point, everyone in the Staples Center thought the Lakers would complete the comeback. We’ve already seen the look on Kevin Durant’s face when AD took the last shot.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1237601760082112513
Should the Lakers command AD playing at a high level like this for the whole game as opposed to coming alive in the second half? No. But it will be a requirement if the bench doesn’t show up and provide some evidence of scoring. Let’s take Kyle Kuzma out of the equation for a second (We’ll get to him in a second!). The Lakers bench scored 13 points.
Now let’s talk about Kyle Kuzma.