The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 112-95. Anthony Davis played well against his former team. LeBron was LeBron as well. These two once again led a balanced Lakers’ attack and showed why they are the NBA defending Champions. Since the infamous trade between the two teams that brought Anthony Davis to L.A., the Lakers are 5-0 in the matchups between the two teams. Davis explained what the Lakers gameplan was and how the team is locking in.
“We’ve been locking in defensively,” Davis said. “We had a slow start tonight, but we’ve been doing it on the defensive end. We want to keep that edge. We want to keep that mindset of being scrappy, being physical.”
Defense does win championships. The Lakers were able to hold the Pelicans under the 100 point threshold. When the Lakers do this, the outcome is usually a victory for the Purple and Gold. With a balanced attack and a deeper team this year LeBron and A.D. don’t have to do so much. They are getting contributions from everyone. Seven Lakers scored at least 9 points against the Pelicans. The team also is taking better care of the ball. In this game, they committed a season-low 8 turnovers. They also forced the Pelicans into 20 turnovers. Things are starting to click for the Lakeshow. Let’s see if they can keep this up.
More from Los Angeles
- LeBron James led the way for the Lakers with 21 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field. He was also 2 of 6 from three-point range. James also pulled down 8 rebounds and dished out 11 assists.
- Anthony Davis pitched in with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists
- Seven Lakers players scored at least 9 points.
- Next game: Monday against the Golden State Warriors in Staples Center in Los Angeles. The game airs at 10 pm Eastern/7 pm Pacific on TNT.
