The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
Anthony Davis played basketball the way it was supposed to be played.
Seems simple doesn’t it? Well in the NBA plenty of players allow the excuse of playing huge minutes take away from the mindset of dominating lesser talented or smaller players. AD did not allow that to happen in this game. Lake Show Life laid out the opinion that he shouldn’t have even suited up to play, but he did and he dominated the Thunder from the opening tip.
He outran Derrick Favors up and down the floor and when OKC switched off to quicker players, Davis just overpowered them. It looked like a classic case of a superstar taking advantage of inexperience. Davis had 12 points in his first ten minutes on 5-7 shooting and that set the tone for the night.
Then in the second half when the offense really got bad, he was the only reliable source. He finished with 30 points and 8 rebounds. But man, this looks like some New Orleans Pelicans flashbacks here. His performance was wasted.
Russell Westbrook looked really relaxed and in control…in the first half!
Russ would have tried to go for 40 points against the Thunder on previous teams. Instead, he kept the pace for his team and his game under control. He was in double figures in assists more than halfway through the second quarter!
🚨 Melo Alley-Oop Alert 🚨 pic.twitter.com/YUhAabdhoO
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 28, 2021
We’re going to keep this short because we are not done with Russ by a long shot.
Malik Monk…
Day one readers of Lake Show Life know that this writer loves to be right. From the gate, it was stated that Malik Monk would be the steal of the offseason with his veteran’s minimum contract. After dropping 17 points against the San Antonio Spurs the night before that included a 3 point shot that saved the Lakers in crunch time…
Then came this less than 24 hours later…
Malik with authority 😤 pic.twitter.com/1ckpqYHFN5
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 28, 2021
Yes, he missed a key 3 pointer at the end, but this dude can play NBA basketball. The Thunder announcers downplayed his game during their broadcast and they couldn’t be more wrong. Monk is athletic, can shoot and truly believes that he can be a major contributor in the rotation no matter who comes back from injury.
Kent Bazemore was on fire in both corners in the first half!
Baze started a little sluggish from the outside but in this game, he was unconscious. Whether it be realizing the Thunder was not a threat of bothering his shot or his rhythm returning, Baze wasn’t only knocking down shots from distance, but it wasn’t even drawing iron as the ball dropped through.