With a Game 5, 131-122 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, your Los Angeles Lakers will continue their playoff journey.
Following the news of the August 23rd shooting of Jacob Blake, a father and Black man from Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Lakers and the rest of the NBA teams in Orlando boycotted Wednesday’s games. As a matter of fact, with the continuation of systemic oppression towards the Black community in America, the remainder of the Playoffs was in question earlier this week. But after a course of action was outlined between the NBA and NBPA, the series will go on.
As usual LeBron James (36 pts, 10 ast, 10 reb) was dynamic for the entirety of the 34 minutes he played. Make that 113 playoff games with 30+ points and 25 playoff triple-doubles. All hail the King. When the Lakers needed someone to sink from downtown, LBJ did the job. If they were hoping for an unstoppable pass through the paint, No. 23 pulled it off repeatedly. And when they looked for a teammate to charge through the lane; well, LeBron did it with ease. Dimes, dominate and deliver, that’s what LeBron James does.
As for the King’s counterpart, Anthony Davis (43 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast) kicked off the action early. AD owned all 8 of the Lakers points in the first four minutes and then drove it home accounting for almost 1/3 of his team’s total points. There are just two words to describe Davis’ game this evening: Mid-range jumper... okay, there are definitely more words. This big fella was making it rain and throwing it down. If there’s a player that can play with equal parts composure and commotion, it’s Anthony Davis.
Now, it’s easy to spot a team playing with confidence and tonight this audacious Lakers team could arguably be seen all the way from LA. Dwight Howard (11 pts, 6 reb) was magnetic, Alex Caruso (7 pts, 4 stl) was authoritative, and Kyle Kuzma (8 pts) was steadfast defensively. The passing chemistry between LBJ and Caruso was charged. Actually, the Purple and Gold’s passing overall was straight poetry from the arc to the inside, and from the inside out. Speaking of the outside, it was a trey party this Saturday night, and AD, LeBron and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (14 pts) were the life of it. The three combined for 12 of the team’s 14 triples.
There’s no doubt this week was difficult, but the team prevailed together. In tonight’s postgame interview, LeBron stated “Hopefully the past couple days will be a change for the greater good and future. And when you see change happening in the future you can look back and say that was the moment, that was the key moment. The bubble season will never be forgotten but this moment will be so much bigger than us playing basketball.”
This Lakers team has encountered countless challenges throughout the season. They continue to proceed with strength and focus. Next stop: Round 2.