Lakers erupt past Spurs in OT.
The Lakers improved to 2–2 on the season after erupting in overtime to coast past the San Antonio Spurs 125 to 121. Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook were the biggest factors in tonight’s overtime win, combining for 10 points in overtime and 68 points overall to help the Lakers beat the Spurs. The Lakers were able to score their season-high in points in the paint, scoring 72 points total points inside the paint in tonight’s victory.
Even with tonight’s overtime win, the Lakers can't overlook the negatives that happened in tonight’s game, as they were overshadowed by the victory. The Lakers shot their worst percentage from beyond the arc in tonight’s game, shooting 26% on 8 of 30 attempts from three. Another huge concern the Lakers have had often this year is second-chance points being allowed by offensive rebounds from opposing teams. The Spurs grabbed 16 offensive rebounds in tonight’s game, nearly half of how much the Lakers grabbed.
In the 4th quarter of tonight’s win, Anthony Davis took a scary fall, slowly giving every Lakers fan a cardiac arrest, as he laid on the floor holding his knee after bumping it with Spurs Dejonte Murray. Thankfully, Davis was able to get up and continue playing to help the Lakers eventually win the game in overtime. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel spoke on the collision in a press conference after tonight’s game, saying:
“We just have to see how sore it is, he just banged knees with one of the Spurs players. It got sore but he was able to continue (in overtime), we’ll see how he responds overnight.”
In tonight’s overtime win, Anthony Davis finished with a dominant performance of 35 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 blocks in his 42 minutes of action, shooting 15 for 30 (50%) from the field and 5 for 6 (83%) from the foul line. Depending on how Davis’ knee feels tomorrow morning, the Lakers could possibly be without him in tomorrow night’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With LeBron sitting out tonight’s game to rest a leg injury he sustained in Sunday's win over the Grizzlies, the Lakers needed Russell Westbrook to come out and play all-star level basketball. He delivered! Complimenting Anthony Davis in their 68 points combined performance with Russell Westbrook finishing with 33 points on 15 of 27 (55%) shooting from the field.
After finishing with nine turnovers in Sunday's victory over the Grizzlies, Westbrook was able to limit his turnovers in tonight’s game, committing just three turnovers in 39 minutes of playing time. With the number of touches he had tonight, that is very impressive, as he also added 10 rebounds and 8 assists in his stellar showing. Westbrook spoke on tonight’s playing importance being without LeBron James in the lineup, saying:
“With Bron being out, we understand the responsibility of making guys around us better, and tonight I thought AD did a great job of being aggressive all night.”
One of the Lakers’ top young talents, Malik Monk was a shocking acquisition this off-season, signing a player of his caliber for almost the minimum. Monk got the starting nod in place for the injured LeBron James tonight, finishing with 17 points on 6 for 15 (40%) shooting from the field and an eye-opening plus/minus of +31.
Another player who shined under the radar tonight for the purple and gold was 23-year-old rookie Austin Reaves. Reaves has impressed head coach Frank Vogel in past games, which led to him playing 30 minutes tonight, finishing with 10 points off the bench on 3 for 5 (60%) shooting from the field and 2 for 4 (50%) shooting from three.
The Lakers will play the second game of a back-to-back tomorrow night against another young team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the possibility of LeBron James sitting tomorrow night’s game to rest his leg injury, look for Malik Monk to have another start again.
