Anthony Davis dominated on the court in Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. As Davis sat in the locker room with his teammates afterward, his parents pleasantly surprised him with a birthday cake.
AD's parents surprised him with a birthday cake after his huge game 🥹 pic.twitter.com/tnzJP8UaFl
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 11, 2024
Davis’ teammates sang him a happy birthday, although he officially turned 31 a few hours later on Monday. Still, a celebration of some sort was certainly merited after the nine-time All-Star’s historic showing.
Davis finished with 27 points, 25 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals, and 3 blocks on the night, and would have made his parents, Anthony Davis Sr. and Erainer Davis, very proud. With that display, he became the first player in NBA history with 25 points, 25 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals in a game since steals became an official stat in 1973-74.
The Timberwolves, who were without Rudy Gobert, and Karl-Anthony Towns, just couldn’t find a way to deal with Davis. He had his way with their depleted frontcourt to lead LA to a 120-109 win.
With this result, the Lakers improved to 36-30 on the season and are six games over .500 for the first time in this campaign. They remain ninth in the Western Conference but are within touching distance of the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns, who are 37-27 on the season.
Anthony Davis’ Plans For His Birthday
During his postgame media session, Davis was asked by a reporter about his birthday plans and he had a hilarious response.
“Nothing,” Davis said with a smirk on his face. “I just know I got a couple (of) days. I’ll be fully, I won’t say fully recovered but I’ll be like 80% recovered on Tuesday.”
(starts at 29:50 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdpafUdmBmQ
After a performance like that, you better believe he is going to party hard. The Lakers’ next game is against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, so Davis will have time to recover for that one, as he mentioned. He also revealed this was the first time in his career that he would be celebrating his birthday at home.
Anthony Davis Spoke On His Incredible Performance
While Davis’ birthday was a talking point after the game, the biggest story was his play on the court. Davis spoke on what led to his sensational performance in the win over the Timberwolves.
“Effort, knowing the importance of the game… Obviously, they were missing key parts of their team, but they still have guys that can make plays and win a ball game… We’re trying to close the gap in the standings (between the Lakers and teams in front of them).”
The Lakers need to find some consistency if they are to close the gap and avoid the play-in tournament by securing a spot in the top six in the Western Conference. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games after this result and need to string together some wins.
Two of those losses came against the Kings and the Golden State Warriors, who they face in their next two games. It is crucial for the Lakers that they win both of them and beating Sacramento would require Davis to be at his absolute best.
He is 0-9 against Domantas Sabonis in his career and had just 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block when they faced off earlier this month. You would expect a much better showing on Wednesday, especially on the back of that display against the Timberwolves.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
