It’s been quite the past week for the Los Angeles Lakers. This past Saturday, they had a huge comeback win on the road against the Houston Rockets, beating them 124-115 without Anthony Davis. They came crashing back to earth on Monday, as they got steamrolled by the Boston Celtics, 139-107. Last night, they had a very lukewarm win against the New York Knicks, barely beating them 100-92.
The Lakers will now play the second night of a back-to-back in Brooklyn, as they take on Kyrie Irving and the Nets. It’ll be another matchup between LeBron James and Kyrie, as they continue their careers away from the Cleveland Cavaliers where they won a championship together. The last time the two played together, LeBron was already on the Lakers, but Kyrie was still on the Celtics. In that game in March 2019, the two superstars both put up 30 points with the Celtics ultimately prevailing, 120-107.
Things have changed, obviously, as Kyrie is now a member of the Brooklyn Nets while LeBron has a much better partner-in-crime this year in Anthony Davis. Kyrie has a superstar of his own by his side, but he won’t be around for this one, as Kevin Durant continues to rehab his torn Achilles that he sustained in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Nets come in struggling
Lakers fans might think that the Lakers are currently struggling, but they’re nowhere near where the Nets are currently. They come into tonight’s game on a four-game losing streak while also losing eight of their past 10 games. They’ve encountered some stiff competition in those past four games though, playing the Bucks, Jazz, and the 76ers, twice.
It won’t get easier for them against the Lakers, but they are lucky in the fact that they will be catching the purple-and-gold on the road on the second night of a back-to-back. Irving will try and take advantage as he will be playing his fifth game since returning from a shoulder injury that kept him out for 25 games. In his time back he has averaged 21 points, 6 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game.
Anthony Davis gets his groove back against the Knicks
Davis returned Monday night against the Celtics after a five-game absence from the bruised butt (hehe) injury he sustained on January 7th against the Knicks. His minutes were restricted by Frank Vogel to 28, but he didn’t even get close to that after Davis and LeBron were pulled from playing in the fourth quarter. He didn’t do much in his 22 minutes of play, only scoring nine points on three of seven shooting from the field. He seemed to find his rhythm though last night in his rematch against the Knicks, as he ended the game with 28 points. He was going to work on Julius Randle and the other undersized power forwards that the Knicks love to employ, making seven of his 14 field goal attempts while also going 100% from the free-throw line on 13 attempts. Hopefully, Davis will keep the ball rolling tonight against the Nets.
It’ll be another early tip-off as the Lakers continue their road trip, kicking off at 5:00 p.m. PST. See you then.
