Los Angeles Lakers: Top Ten Moments of the 2019-2020 Season

7.) AD’s 40/20 game against the Grizzlies

It didn’t take long for Anthony Davis to start breaking team records, as the Brow went off for a huge 40 points and 20 rebound game against the Memphis Grizzlies. In the game Davis went 26-27 from the foul line, breaking the franchise record for free throws made in a single game, which was previously held (surprisingly) by Dwight Howard.

Nothing was stopping Davis from dominating the undersized Grizzlies team, as the Brow proved to be too much on both ends of the floor. He got to the line at will, dominated their opposing big men and was taking everything this young Grizzlies squad was throwing at him.

This performance was also in some ways, a response to the critics saying Davis was ‘soft’ and didn’t try to get to the free-throw line as much as he should be given his size and skill level. It’s important to note that during this time in the season, Davis was dealing with a couple of minor injuries, the most prevalent of which was a sore shoulder, that began to raise concerns about the big man’s durability over the courses of a full season.

However, this game put to rest those concerns, as Davis eventually made a full recovery on that shoulder, and has been providing the Lakers with elite rim protection and scoring ever since.

In addition, it was games like this that quelled any concerns as to whether or not the Lakers gave up too much in the AD trade. There was simply no other player included in that trade who could even sniff a 40/20 game while going 26-27 from the line.