LeBron James and Anthony Davis provide health updates after Lakers win over Suns.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis were safe in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 122-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns despite a brief hiccup.
Davis returned to the Lakers lineup for the first time since Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat with left adductor/hip spasms. Although he was optimistic about the game against the Houston Rockets, AD was late to the game. The Lakers’ inside line was quickly dismantled and blown away.
Davis was initially listed as doubtful for Friday’s in-season tournament matchup at the Trail Center — a game the Lakers had lost three straight and faced an 0-6 road record in desperate need of a win. . AD was later upgraded to possible and cleared during the warm-up.
At first, Davis’ emergence wasn’t a panacea for the struggling Lakers. Davis looked wavering and noncommittal in his rebounding and shooting contests. At halftime, he scored five points on 2-for-9 shooting, but was completely overwhelmed by Jusuf Nurkic. The Lakers were killed on the boards again.
“It took me a while to get into the game, shooting and stuff like that, just trying not to make it worse,” Davis said after the game.
Eventually, Davis found a (enough) canter. He went all out to score 10 points in the third quarter, and the Lakers started the fourth quarter with a 16-2 blitz (when Davis rested). Nurkic performed poorly in the second half. The Lakers closed the rebounding gap. AD ended up shooting 5-of-14 from the field, but he finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes.
“As the game went on, I stopped thinking about it and started playing. I felt like that a few times throughout the game, but mostly, it felt good.”
As for LeBron: If you had no context and turned on this game at some point in the second quarter, you wouldn’t have known you were watching an aging professional basketball player, let alone one playing through pain. People.
In the first quarter, LeBron accidentally collided with Kevin Durant while shooting. break into driveway. The 38-year-old immediately jumped up on one leg and limped/grimmed as he took the free throw. He looked worried and uncomfortable as he lay on the bench. Then I recheck and start the second one.
“It never lets up,” LeBron said of the leg problem, which he has not officially diagnosed. “But I was driving, and embarrassingly, Durant’s knee – with my strength – hit me right in the calf. It just locked up. It shot into my foot.”
but! LeBron looks as energetic as ever. Sometimes he continued to attack, and sometimes he scored 32 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists skillfully. He enjoyed his most efficient shooting night of the 2023-24 season: 11-for-17 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range, and 7-for-11 from the free throw line. He played the entire fourth quarter (36 minutes total) and never showed signs of fatigue.
Scored 19 points from No. 23 in 17 minutes. pic.twitter.com/ZAG3UHTQ5I
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 11, 2023
Davis appears to be fully recovered and locked in for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena. Meanwhile, LeBron said he felt “very sore” after icing his leg. Winning helps, too.