The Lakers are continuing their climb up the standings, jumping 11 games over .500 after a 125-120 win over the Wizards. The favored Lakers managed to pull the win off behind Anthony Davis’ taking over, something that fans of the franchise absolutely loved as the team is keeping their top-six push alive.
Taking this one to go, Los Angeles — we're coming home. pic.twitter.com/jPWNYwtLh5
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 4, 2024
One fan highlighted exactly how significant Davis being on the floor for the Lakers is.
Lakers have been an absolute mess without Anthony Davis on the court
In 9 minutes without AD on the court LAL is losing by 16 points…….to the Washington Wizards
— LAbound (@LAbound2) April 4, 2024
Fans said the Lakers looked like the worst team in NBA history when Davis was on the bench.
The Lakers if Anthony Davis didn’t exist pic.twitter.com/fglyWl04Ow
— Oluwajomiloju (@JomiAdeniran) April 4, 2024
Fans were upset that AD never gets put in conversations of the very best players in the NBA.
Another game where Anthony Davis puts up a monster stat line (35/18/5)
Yet nobody cares anymore. If any other big put up these numbers on a nightly basis, y’all would crown them in the MVP discussion.
Instead y’all still try and argue AD not top 10 when he’s closer to top 5.
— 🎗NBA•Fan🎗 (@Klutch_23) April 4, 2024
The duo of LeBron James and Davis has been the Lakers’ most effective weapon, which was clear tonight as well.
AD clamping & lebron controlling the offense
legit an underrated duo at this point
— coach xavier (@thexavierjoseph) April 4, 2024
Fans heavily criticized Darvin Ham for not starting Rui Hachimura earlier in the season.
DARVIN P DIDDY HAM DIDN'T START RUI HACHIMURA FOR 50 GAMES CUZ HE WAS HORNY FOR 6'7 KAI CENAT
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) April 4, 2024
Lakers fans are extremely encouraged by the growth Rui has shown over the last season.
dawg rui legit been unguardable lately
like every matchup been a mismatch for months now 🤣
he’s been incredible i really just been impressed w/ the offensive leap he’s taken this season
guess an offseason w bron really does pay off
— Coach Rome (@Rome_Beast) April 4, 2024
Anthony Davis put up 35 points, 18 rebounds, and 3 blocks in one of his best performances of the season. LeBron let his teammate do the bulk of the work but still added in 25 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists of his own. All the starters did their bit, with Austin Reaves becoming the lowest-scoring starter after putting up an impressive 16 points behind D’Angelo Russell’s 18 points and Hachimura’s 19 points.
Jordan Poole looked good tonight in his 29-point performance, the leading scorer for Washington tonight. Both Kyle Kuzma and Corey Kispert put up 17 points to be tied as the second-leading scorer, while rookie center Tristan Vukcevic added 15 points.
No Rest In The West
The Lakers have won eight out of their last nine games and have gone 20-8 since the start of February. Despite this, the team is only good enough to be the No. 9 seed in the West for this entire stretch. They’re inching closer to the pack at the top but with just five games left in the season, it doesn’t look like the Lakers will get a chance to continue their climb before the Play-In Tournament.
The Lakers are 44-33 and are only one game behind the No. 8 seed Phoenix Suns. Given the Suns are only facing tough top-tier matchups in their remaining regular-season games, the Lakers will be hoping that the Suns drop enough games to at least help them climb out of the 9-10 play-in. The 7-8 requires the Lakers to win just one game as compared to two for playoff qualification.
The West has been a warzone for a few months now, with most middle-of-the-pack teams sitting with comfortable records over the winter months, increasing competition in the middle of the Conference. Even though the Lakers had fallen out of this group in December, watching them make their way back has been incredible.
It’s just a question of winning out over the handful remaining games this season to ensure that LA is in the playoffs once again.
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