SAN FRANCISCO — In the final 90 seconds of Game 1 of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ second-round series against the Golden State Warriors, Anthony Davis blocked a layup by Stephen Curry and corralled a rebound off a Jordan Poole miss to put the finishing touches on L.A.’s 117-112 win Tuesday night.
The sequence would have been notable enough had it just helped to squelch the defending champions’ furious 14-0 rally to tie the score that preceded it.
The fact that it came after Davis played every single minute of the second half, posting a final line of 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocks to allow the Lakers to steal home-court advantage in the opening game of a second consecutive Western Conference playoff series, made it monumental.
“The Lakers franchise over the years, over the course of their existence, has always had dominant big men, dominant guys that have been a force at the rim,” LeBron James said after Davis joined Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Elgin Baylor as the only players in team history to record a 30-20 game in the playoffs. “That’s why their jerseys are in the rafters. AD will be up there when he’s done playing. The No. 3 will be up in the rafters. He continues to show why he’s one of the best players that we have in this league.”
Davis started his damage early, putting up 23 points on 9-for-10 shooting (5-for-5 from the free throw line) and 11 rebounds in the first half — nearly matching his first-round averages against the Memphis Grizzlies (20.8 points and 13.7 rebounds) by intermission.
“The guys gave the ball to me in the right spots,” Davis said. “A lot of it came out of pick-and-roll, post-ups, some offensive rebounds. Just being aggressive when I do catch [the ball], looking to score, looking to play make to the other guys.”
Davis was effective in all aspects of the game. His teammates shot 5-for-5 off his feeds, according to ESPN Stats & Information. And the Warriors went 4-for-17 on shots that Davis contested, with Golden State shooting 40.6% from the field overall in Game 1.
“I mean, he’s everything for us,” said Lakers guard Dennis Schroder, who was impressive in his own right with 19 points off the bench. “Defensively. Offensively….
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