LOS ANGELES — The start of the second half produced immediate concern for Lakers fans everywhere: Anthony Davis didn’t come back out on the court.
Teammates, coaches and team officials have tied the success of the franchise to Davis’ high performance and good health – which has been seen too infrequently over the past two years. Davis sitting out the second half Friday night against the Denver Nuggets with a right foot injury struck as an ill omen.
Except something unexpected happened: It didn’t slow down the Lakers.
LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, the two stars who have often seemed like a clunky on-court fit, powered a surprising 126-108 victory against the Nuggets, the third-place team in the Western Conference. After two disappointing overtime losses in their previous three games against high-level opponents, the Lakers (12-16) came out hungry and hustling, in spite of a size advantage that never really became an issue.
“It’s something we should try to strive for every night,” Westbrook said. “It’s one of those nights where everybody had their hand in it and it showed.”
Westbrook was the engine of a third- and fourth-quarter surge – similar to the one that fell just short against Boston on Tuesday – muscling his way to his second triple-double of the season with 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. His two-man chemistry with Thomas Bryant, who scored a season-high 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting, helped cover for the absence of Davis, who has been one of the league’s best scorers for the past month.
While there has been plenty of anxiety for a team that has given up double-digit fourth-quarter leads more than once this season, James helped bury the Nuggets with a late scoring spurt and by playing center himself. The 37-year-old scored eight of his 30 points in the fourth, all during a two-minute span and finishing with a layup that gave his Lakers an 18-point edge with 3½ minutes remaining. The final tally saw them outscore Denver 33-20 in the final period.
Speed helped win the day for L.A.: The Lakers scored 28 fast-break points and made the Nuggets pay for their 19 turnovers. There was also a surprising amount of balance: Seven Lakers scored in double figures, the kind of balance that has not been common most of this season. Even rookie Max Christie checked in and made back-to-back 3-pointers in a critical stretch of the fourth quarter.
James called special attention to the bench, which outscored the Nuggets’ reserves 58-23.
“Especially after the heartbreaking loss we had against Boston,” James said, “for us to come back a couple nights later and kind of play well at times and then get down and then make a rally and the guys off the bench are making the biggest impact for the game, I think it was huge.”
The Lakers were waiting for further evaluation on Saturday morning to learn more about Davis’ foot. ESPN was the first to report that Davis, who left the arena before many of his teammates, had “hope” that he had not experienced a severe injury.
Davis’ tweak occurred roughly five minutes into the game: As Davis drove the baseline for a reverse layup against back-to-back league MVP Nikola Jokic (25 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists), his foot appeared to collide awkwardly with Jokic’s leg. Davis almost immediately started limping and grimacing with each step, but he didn’t sub out immediately and even scored six more points during his shift.
By the second quarter, Davis seemed off: In eight minutes, he took only one shot (a miss), had one rebound, one assist and two turnovers. On defense, he seemed overwhelmed against Jokic and Aaron Gordon, who helped Denver score 56 points in the paint.
Bryant was caught off-guard when the Lakers told him he was starting the second half for Davis, but he scored 16 of his points after halftime, with two steals to contribute to the defensive effort.
“He came out and a really, really huge effort against a two-time MVP,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “Really helped us on both sides of the basketball, just his energy and activity. His no-quit mentality. We needed that. He was a huge burst for us.”
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The game was largely back-and-forth in the first quarter, with the spotlight on the Jokic-Davis matchup. Both big men had 10 points in the opening frame, portending another strong matchup between centers who have been linked since the Lakers’ triumphant 2020 Western Conference finals series.
At the moment when the Lakers seemed to be taking control, their Nugget offense suddenly put together a run. Denver called timeout after a James 3-pointer gave the hosts a nine-point lead. From there, the Nuggets reeled off a 20-2 run that spanned five minutes, powered by eight Lakers misses and four turnovers.
Austin Reaves finally snapped the cold streak on a feed from Davis … then kept going. The second-year wing went on a one-man tear of 10 straight points for the Lakers, twice going to the free-throw line as the crowd showered him with cheeky “M-V-P” chants. James tacked on six straight points of his own – punctuated with a running dunk – to pull the Lakers to within a point at halftime.
It’s not about how you start; it’s about how you finish. That’s a comforting thought to the Lakers, Davis’ injury pending, who are 10-6 in their last 16 games. And at least on Friday night, they looked like pretty solid finishers.
“We didn’t want that Boston loss to spill into future games. And it can,” Ham said. “At the end of the day, our guys dug down deep.”
LeBron is the oldest player to record 3 consecutive games with 30+ points since Michael Jordan (2002).
(via @NBAHistory)
— NBA (@NBA) December 17, 2022
“That’s what this is supposed to be about. That is our identity.” pic.twitter.com/whYGyOxU8U
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 17, 2022
“I live for these moments. That’s why I play basketball, to see others do well.” @russwest44 on his new role and having other guys like Max Christie & Thomas Bryant contribute in tonight’s win. pic.twitter.com/59MFBkOnEx
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 17, 2022
“My mindset was just coming out here and playing aggressive and just giving the team that life that we need.” @nolimittb31 with @LakersReporter following his season-high 21 PTS against the Nuggets. pic.twitter.com/CtlzsQohIz
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 17, 2022
“He puts the work in every single day.” Austin Reaves on @nolimittb31‘s performance and the #Lakers bench outscoring the Nuggets bench 58-23. pic.twitter.com/jcOJNBrvzW
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 17, 2022
Darvin Ham on @nolimittb31‘s performance, the #Lakers execution down the stretch and an update on Anthony Davis. pic.twitter.com/t7gRPt8q2S
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 17, 2022