Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Lessons from return win over Clippers

Anthony Davis will be possibly the best player in the bubble leading into the postseason!

The NBA title chances for the Los Angeles Lakers will start and end with the success of Anthony Davis. He makes this team go and the Clippers have no chance of stopping this guy in a seven-game series. In other words, AD gave the Clippers big men the business. If there was a way that a basketball could score on the court, AD did it and he did it with so much ease.

Davis came out the gate aggressive looking to score dropping 14 points in the first quarter. Through the season, Davis averages 8 points in the first quarter which ranks 3rd in the NBA. But while most of the media and fans are fixated on the scoring, it’s the little things that turned a team that missed the playoffs last year to the number one seed this year.

Case in point.

The Los Angeles Clippers signed Joakim Noah because of his ability to defend the drive and rotate back for a rebound. In this play he actually did that. But Davis is so athletic, he literally jumps over Noah and dunks on him. Ivica Zubac was so bad, he looked scared to death.

On the defensive end, Davis’ length bothered Kawhi Leonard and Paul George early. These two players are good enough to stick with LeBron James, but this guy? No chance.

Unlike the opening night loss, AD was aggressive and drew a ton of fouls. Even though he didn’t shoot great from the field (8-19) he had a virtual parade to the free-throw line. He hit 16 of 17 tries. This is so important going to the postseason because opponents will get into the penalty quicker and deal with foul trouble like the Clippers did in this game.

But when the Los Angeles Lakers got into trouble in the 3rd quarter, AD was there hitting back to back triples.

In the end, Anthony Davis finished with 34 points, 8 rebounds (2 offensive!) and 4 assists. He was far and away the most efficient player on the floor for both teams.