6.) Anthony Davis’ game-saving block against the Kings
Since the beginning of the regular season, Anthony Davis made it clear that one of his goals for the season was to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, and so far he has been far and away the favorite to achieve that.
He is one of the most versatile defenders in the league, with the ability to be an elite rim protector and shot blocker, as well switch out on the perimeter and match up against smaller, quicker guards.
A perfect example of this versatility was against the Sacramento Kings on November 15th, where the team found themselves up by two with 5.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter with the Kings having one last chance to tie the game up. This is where Davis came up huge, blocking the potential game-tying shot attempt by Harrison Barnes and giving the Lakers the victory as the clock expired.
Former Laker head coach Luke Walton drew up a very well designed out of bounds play that saw Barnes fake a hand-off to Bogdan Bogdanovic at the top of the key. At the same time, Richaun Holmes, whom Davis was guarding, cleared out to set a decoy screen for Buddy Hield, leaving the basket wide open for Barnes to drive in, without a single Laker within five feet of the basket. Except for one.
Davis recognized the action, and made a mad dash back towards the basket, just in time to get vertical and completely swallow up Barnes’ shot attempt. The block was incredible, but what this moment even better was the complete nonchalantness with which Davis reacted to this tremendous play, reacting like it was another day at the office.