The Lakers are no longer the only team in the league with 0 wins after a great win over the Denver Nuggets where the Lakers improved their shot-making, continued playing strong defense, and closed out a game in which they had to come back from a double-digit deficit.
Anthony Davis had a strong 23-point night with fantastic defense. He spoke to the media after the game and stressed how important getting a win was.
"We needed this [win] for our team, our spirits, our fans, our organization." – @AntDavis23 (23 points, 15 rebounds) speaks with @LakersReporter about #Lakers getting their first 'W' and dealing with his back injury. pic.twitter.com/kgw13EkANO
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 31, 2022
“It is what it is at this point. We needed this one. We need it for our team, our spirit, our fans, and our organization. It’s a team that just beat us and we came out and showed what we are capable of. This has got to be the start of the run for us but it was good to get that monkey off our back. and get a win in the win column and try to get the team going.”
“We know we’re the worst offensive team in the league and we didn’t wanna come out and play a good first half just to come out in the third quarter and let it slip away. We came out, Jamal Murray made some tough shots, but we stayed the course, we stuck to what we do defensively and cut the lead going into the 4th and able to finish this one. If we play defense like that, we’re a tough team to beat, but today we made our shots.”
Davis is the only player in the NBA to average 2 blocks and 2 steals. If he wants to be considered a DPOY candidate he needs to ensure the Lakers have a winning record and in the playoff hunt instead of the bottom of the Western Conference.
Is This The Comeback Point For The Lakers?
The new system that Darvin Ham was talking about all summer finally reared its head in a successful way this season. There has been nothing wrong with the sets that Ham has run or how the team is being run but just the poor quality players on the roster that cannot shoot.
The average shooters shot better than average tonight and will hope to continue converting good looks. This season might not be a glittering success for the Lakers but fighting with this roster shows that the team hasn’t given up on themselves like how everyone else gave up on them and demanded trades for Russell Westbrook.
LeBron James needs to improve his finishing, missing way too many layups and ruining his field goal percentage. Westbrook needs to pick his spots offensively, even though he had a great game tonight. AD needs to ensure he can stay healthy and on the court as this lineup could collapse without his defensive contributions.
