The flame-throwing shooter tried to finesse his way past. The mammoth brute attempted to power his way through. Neither could summit Mt. Davis.
In the latest addition to his early Defensive Player of the Year resume, Anthony Davis made four key stops in crunch time against Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, cementing the Lakers’ 105-96 win in Denver.
It was an exclamation mark on a day that started with Davis missing the team’s morning film session due to flulike symptoms … and included needing an IV drip at halftime.
“He comes in and has a … Defensive Player of the Year type of performance,” coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s guarding their two best players. Jokic in single coverage, everybody staying home and then Jamal Murray taking him to the basket. Just making defensive play after defensive play. He was outstanding. For him to play through illness and have that kind of performance was special.”
Davis finished the night with 25 points and 10 rebounds. He and LeBron James (25 points, nine assists) provided exactly the punch that the Lakers needed against Denver’s top-ranked defense.
On the other end, Davis led the Lakers’ own superb defensive effort. Not only did L.A. hold the Nuggets to double-digit scoring — they also managed to shoot just 41% from the field and 21% on 3-pointers.
Dwight Howard (13 points, six rebounds) and Rajon Rondo (11 points, six assists) provided key plays off the bench, while the Lakers’ rebounding advantage (56-35 overall, 14-7 on the offensive glass) was also vital to the victory.
And it was LeBron who provided the biggest board of them all. Late in the battle between the Western Conference’s top two teams, James cleaned up Davis’ miss and threw it down, icing victory in the Rockies.