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Lieutenant General: The game in which Anthony Davis became the superstar LeBron James needed at his side
Even before the Denver chain of mistakes that helped him achieve his first ever playoff moment, AD provided the transcendence that reminded anyone who forgot: in every other team he is much more than a "second star."
Sagi Rafael with an interim summary of the Western Conference final, which again makes us doubt the Nuggets - maybe only temporarily
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LeBron James
Anthony Davis
Los Angeles Lakers
Denver Nuggets
Sagi Rafael
Monday, September 21, 2020, 2:30 p.m.
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"Great players score big shots."
That's how Nikola Jukic summed up the winning basket of Anthony Davis, who tonight put the Lakers to a 0: 2 advantage in the series against Denver.
The huge winning basket was the dessert after a great first half, and he finally won his moment in the playoffs.
A moment seen in a loop over and over again.
Three minutes before that basket Davis scored a hat-trick at the end of the clock, from exactly the same standout.
Davis scored the Lakers' last 10 points of the game, 22 in the second half and 31 in the game.
How good it is to have a second star, one who in 29 other teams was the main star.
How many Lakers needed him.
LeBron did finish the game with 26 points but 22 of them were in the first half.
In the second half he was anemic and inaccurate.
Even during the latter it does not appear that LeBron went for the ball or tried to produce for himself a space from Jeremy Grant.
He did not even try to block Davis.
His very presence in the area managed to attract Flamely.
What did Flamely do exactly that move?
It is not clear.
His defense of Davis was remarkably bad.
While the rest of the Denver players clung on to their player, Flamely gave Davis nearly a yard from the start of the move.
Davis moved to a point from which he scored a wide arc, and for some reason Flamely ran to LeBron.
Even if Grant asked Flamely to help him with LeBron, that does not justify Flamely's mistake.
Jukic sees the move and tries to get out to Davis but has nothing to do in front of Davis' long hands.
The blame should not fall on Flamely alone.
Part of it has to go to Mike Malone who put him on the field two seconds to go instead of the veteran Paul Millsap.
Millsap has long been unstoppable in bundles, but he still has defense and game understanding.
These are the moments for which Denver pays him $ 30 million a season.
The chances of him stopping Davis are low, but we would probably see better protection for the move.
Malone ran length on Davis, but put a cold player on the field at a time when adrenaline and experience are more important than length.
* Sagi Rafael and Oren Levy are writing a book to summarize the 20-19 season in the NBA.
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More on Walla!
NEWS
Davis scored a three-pointer over the buzzer: The Lakers went up 0-2 over Denver
To the full article
Everyone at the Lakers was waiting for this moment.
Anthony Davis (Photo: Reuters)
thanks buddy.
LeBron (Photo: AP)
Before that basket we saw another mini-comeback miracle of all Denver made by Jukic.
Jukic scored Denver's last 12 points.
From the three, from the post, and also a basket that is all magic from an offensive rebound after Jamal Marie's airball at the end of a clock.
Somehow the ball hits Yukich with his fingers, and his touch is so soft and directs the ball straight into the ring.
Denver finds herself time and time again with a big lag, and time and time again puts herself back in the game.
They did it against Utah, they
did it against the Clippers, and tonight they did it against the Lakers as well, but that was not enough to win.
Malone must help his players not get into these situations in the first place.
In the first half the Lakers had already reached a 16-point lead. It happened in a very strange way.
LeBron opened the game hot and scored three threes.
When he is in this mode it is impossible to stop him and he scored 22 incredibly easy points in the first half.
But the Lakers' run came precisely when he was the bench.
Despite the lightness that came to LeBron scoring his points, he finished the half in minus 5 in the plus-minus index, with the Lakers leading by 10 in the half.
In the second quarter he went down to the bench and first game hero Dwight Howard came up for the first time.
Vogel wanted Howard to be aggressive and not afraid to make fouls, so he reduced his minutes, maybe too much.
The Lakers without LeBron ran 0:11 courtesy of real GOAT Alex Caruso, and it looks like Yukic didn't really know how to deal with Howard.
Here came the moment that changed the game and maybe the series.
Jukic is slowly entering the basket, and Howard channels Bill Lambir and Rick from Horn and blows him up with all his might.
Howard jumps too early in front of Yukich's slowness, and lands on him with both hands coming down with all his might and hitting anything round in the area - a ball, a head.
The fabric boys were proud of.
The judges whistle for a regular offense and don’t even bother to check.
Under current laws it's unsportsmanlike, Howard goes to Jukic's head.
Malone argues, Jukic goes to the line and scores two.
This may be the moment when he stopped being afraid of Big Howard.
This is where Denver's comeback began.
More on Walla!
NEWS
Anthony Davis shouted "Kobe" after the basket of victory and attacked: "They said I could not stand the pressure"
To the full article
The reason for optimism in Denver: He is no longer afraid.
Yukic (Photo: AP)
With all due respect to Denver and Jokic, this win went to the Lakers who scratched it in the nails in their not-so-good game.
They did all the little things that are worth winning in close games.
The Lakers defense is great, forcing Denver to hit hard time after time.
The shooting was not good but 13 rebounds on offense covered a lower field percentage than Denver.
They reached the line only 19 times, but scored 94% compared to 73% from the line in the previous game.
Denver, on the other hand, reached the line 33 times, but was only 75% accurate.
Here it is worth mentioning PJ Dojier who was an excellent Malon gamble in the fourth quarter.
He made some excellent moves on both sides of the pitch, but offset his excellent play with 1 of 5 penalties.
Judging by the amount of free throws it seems the referee was more inclined towards Denver.
He was indeed more balanced than the first game.
Still too often Davis and LeBron get a late whistle for an offense after a foul.
On the other side Denver gets hit and hits, but doesn’t get the hand van.
Maybe it's not a bias in favor of a team, maybe it's just the referees' tendency to check if the ball goes in before whistling for an offense.
Quite a few commentators have closed the story on the series, and I admit I also have a hard time seeing LeBron drop such an advantage so close to the ring.
No one will bet against the king.
As if we learned nothing from this playoff, as if we learned nothing from the Denver run.
Their mental toughness will help them overcome the painful loss and get focused on the next game.
Until there are four wins on the Lakers side, Denver must not be eulogized.
* Sagi Rafael and Oren Levy are writing a book summarizing the 20-19 season in the NBA.
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