The Los Angeles Lakers had a chance to punch a ticket to the Western Conference Semifinals on Friday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. With the game happening in Crypto.com Arena, L.A. came out on fire and made clear that they had no plans on heading back to Memphis for a potential Game 7.
Anthony Davis, in particular, played like a man possessed on Friday. Whether he was doing the dirty work on offense or playing one of the best defensive games of his career, Davis was nothing short of magnificent. And in the third quarter, he was responsible for perhaps the nastiest poster we have seen all postseason, which came at the expense of the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson Jr.
With the Lakers up 84-55 in the third quarter, Dennis Schröder walked the ball up the floor and got met by Davis, who set a screen. Davis rolled, Schröder lobbed it up, and then, this happened.
That is a stellar effort by Davis, one that the best defensive player in the NBA just had no chance against. It’s been just that kind of night for both teams, in large part because of the performance that we’ve seen out of Davis.
