One of the biggest storylines for the Los Angeles Lakers coming into their Saturday night showdown against the Denver Nuggets was the MVP caliber basketball that Anthony Davis has been playing.
The Lakers history with the Nuggets the past couple of seasons has been well-documented With LA coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Orlando Magic at the hands of Franz Wagner, and the Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back, this was a chance for the Lakers to make a statement.
It was a chance for Anthony Davis to go toe-to-toe with his recent playoff nemesis in Nuggets’ star Nikola Jokic. Instead, the script played out in similar fashion with the Lakers racing out to a double-digit lead in the first half, only for the Nuggets to come out firing in the third quarter and never look back as they rolled to a 127-102 win.
Davis didn’t quite play at the level he’s been at early in the season. While he finish with 14 points, ten rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots, he shot only 6-of-19 from the field (31.6 percent) and missed both of his three-point attempts.
After the game, Davis spoke about what he felt was the cause for his off-shooting game, as per Dan Woike of The LA Times.
“I just missed shots. I think all great looks,” Davis said. “It’s a miss-or-make league. I’ll make more than I’ll miss for sure. You always wish you can make every shot. I’m confident in every shot I took. They’re shots that I normally make. All of us, to be honest. Shots that we all normally make, we just missed, But I like every shot that I took tonight. They just didn’t go in.”
The loss was the Lakers second consecutive defeat, dropping them to 10-6 on the season. The Nuggets improved to 9-6.
Anthony Davis’ MVP-level for the Lakers
Despite Davis’ poor shooting night against the Nuggets, he’s been playing arguably the best basketball of his career on both ends of the court, to begin the 2024-25 season.
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Following the Lakers’ loss to the Nuggets, head coach JJ Redick was of the same mindset as Davis in that Davis’ shot quality was good, they just weren’t dropping.
“I felt like he missed some of those tough shots, missed some shots closer in, there were a couple even in the first half,” Redick said. “I thought we played really well for the most part, outside of some transition stuff. The ball just kind of spun around the rim and went out, but I thought in terms of the offensive process for him, I thought overall it was fine.”
Davis has appeared in 15 of the Lakers’ 16 games so far this season as he’s been battling plantar fasciitis. Through this early stretch, he’s been averaging a career-high 30.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocked shots with splits of 55.6 percent shooting from the field, a career-high 40.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 78.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
The Lakers will hit the road now for a quick two-game trip against the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.
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