The Los Angeles Lakers secured a 132-122 victory over the Sacramento Kings, completing a season sweep over their California rivals. LeBron James was absent due to illness, but Anthony Davis stepped up, leading the team to victory and sending a clear message to his teammates for what lies ahead.
Davis delivered a stellar performance, recording 36 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists. However, the Lakers struggled defensively in the first half, something Davis was not pleased with.
At halftime, Davis made his thoughts known to the team, urging them to tighten up defensively in order to secure the win. “I just told the guys that we just got to be better defensively,” Davis said. “We got to rely on our defense. So I just told everybody, like, we got to defend. We got to lay our hats on defense. And we just kind of locked back in defensively”.
The Lakers trailed 65-66 at halftime, but Davis’ challenge seemed to spark the team, as they held the Kings to just 24 points in the third quarter—the lowest of any quarter in the game.
However, the Lakers’ defense faltered again in the final period, allowing the Kings to trim the deficit. This prompted head coach JJ Redick to call a timeout and refocus the team on defensive adjustments.
“They had eight points, I think, in a minute and 50, which is unacceptable for us,” Davis added. “So that’s when JJ [Redick] called the timeout and came back and just told the guys again, like, yeah, we just gotta get stops. We’re gonna score. We are getting everything we want offensively. We got to get stops”.
Davis’ defensive leadership
As one of the league’s top defensive players, Davis plays a crucial role in guiding the Lakers on that end of the floor. “I mean, it’s easy for me, just from the sense, because they don’t want to play defense, so you can’t get on guys or expect guys to do something where you’re not doing it,” he explained.
“So on the defensive end, it’s easy for me to go to guys and get on them, or just tell them what we need from defensively, what we need from our defense, knowing that I’m gonna bring it defensively as well. And the guys responded,” Davis added.
Lakers wanted to exceed Kings’ energy
After Mike Brown’s dismissal as head coach of the Kings, Doug Christie took over for his first game against the Lakers. Davis knew the Kings would come out with heightened energy and emphasized the importance of the Lakers matching that intensity.
“We knew that they were probably going to come in with a little bit more energy,” Davis said. “Anytime you get a coaching trade or a trade, it kind of brings a new life to the team in a sense. So, we just wanted to exceed their energy, exceed their physicality and we did a good job of that tonight for the most part”.