As the Lakers won their second bubble matchup in three games, it’s become apparent that the team’s championship hopes run through none other than Anthony Davis.
The Los Angeles Lakers will enter the Western Conference playoffs with the No.1 overall seed. Following a convincing 116-108 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night, the Lakers clinched the top overall seed in the conference for the first time since the 2009-10 season, the last time the franchise won the championship. As the Lakers won their second bubble matchup in three games, it’s become apparent that the team’s championship hopes run through none other than Anthony Davis. It was Davis yet again whom the Lakers ran their offense through in their latest win. The 6-foot-11 forward steamrolled a legit playoff contender in the Jazz to the tune of 42 points and 12 rebounds on 13-of-28 shooting. There was LeBron James once again with a quiet — but near triple-double — performance of 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds on 9-of-16 shooting. Davis’ aggressiveness led to the Lakers pulling away during a key third quarter run. The 27-year-old dropped 10 of the team’s 18 points in the final six minutes of the third quarter, pushing Los Angeles’ lead to 10 points at the end of the period. The Lakers led by as many as 14 points. Despite the Jazz matching up two-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert on him, Davis couldn’t be slowed down. Via Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times: “They really don’t have a great matchup for him, in my opinion, so they put Rudy [Gobert] on him and gave him a little length,” Lakers guard Alex Caruso said.
