A.D. holds the key to Lakers’ playoff run 

(News4usonline) – The Lakers will go as far as Anthony Davis will take them. Yes, this is still LeBron James’ team, but Davis is clearly the heir apparent. With Davis, James has an outside chance to go and collect his fifth NBA title. 

If Davis is hurt or has an unusual sub-par performance, James and the Lakers will falter. Davis is to James what Robin is to Batman. The sidekick who can kick butt and take names later. 

Davis has proven as much since he came over to the Lakers from the New Orleans Pelicans in a trade before the 2019-2020 NBA season hit. 

Now with the Lakers’ season on the line with an NBA Play-In postseason game against the very team that got rid of him, Davis has the opportunity to re-affirm the Lakers’ belief in him to be the team’s star for the future. 

During the offseason leading up to the 2023-2024 season, Davis signed a contract extension with the ballclub. 

“In our conversations with Anthony, his desire to lead our franchise for the next several years became abundantly clear,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said at that time. “AD understands that his commitment to being the hardest worker, combined with his high character, is what will help define our culture for many seasons to come. It is a proud day for Lakers Nation when we’re able to extend the contract of one of the game’s most dominant two-way players.”

The Lakers are depending on Davis to come through to be that guy. So far, Davis has justified the extension he received. Although this is his first year into the contract he signed, Davis has put up some impressive numbers. 

While James continues to prove he’s from another planet as he leads the team in scoring (25.6 points per game), Davis has taken the challenge to step up his game. During the regular season, Davis averaged 12.7 rebounds a game, the highest in his career. Davis averaged a double-double for the season with his 24.6 points a game coming into play. 

The signs of improvement for Davis have come in other areas as well. For the first time since the 2017-2018 season, Davis played in at least 75 regular season games, proving to the critics that he does have the toughness and durability to play in most games. 

Last season, Davis played in 58 regular season games. The year before, he played in just 40 games during the regular season. Also, his minutes per game (35.6) was the highest for Davis since the 2017-2018 regular season when he played for the Pelicans. 

Davis can pay back New Orleans for dumping him. But Davis and the Lakers expect some resistance as they hope to make a run back to the Western Conference Finals where they fell to the Denver Nuggets, the defending NBA champions.   

Davis helped lead the Lakers to a title during the Covid-19 year. Davis and the Lakers got close last season, but a 4-0 whitewashing by Denver nullified a chance for Los Angeles to earn championship No. 18.

And in a sense of irony, whichever team wins between the Lakers and Pelicans will have to play the Nuggets.  

The Lakers beat the Pelicans in three of the four games the two teams played against one another during the regular season. The Lakers didn’t just beat the Pelicans in those three contests, they coasted to blowout victories against New Orleans. 

The Lakers defeated New Orleans in the last game of the regular season to force this rematch.  

Should the Lakers lose their game against New Orleans, they have to play either Sacramento or Golden State. If they fall in the game, their summer begins immediately. The biggest question around this game is not about James or Davis, but more about what New Orleans team the Lakers will go up against. 

First things are first. If Davis plays the way he has during the regular season and what he has done in the postseason in prior years, the Lakers will benefit from it. In his first two postseason run with the Pelicans, Davis averaged more than 30 points a game.

In the year that the Lakers won their only title during the James-Davis era, the power forward averaged just over 27 points and nine rebounds a game. In 16 games in the postseason last year, Davis put up 22 points and 14 rebounds a game.

If Davis and the Lakers hope to play another 16 games or more in this postseason, Los Angeles is going to need their power forward to take his game to the next level. Failure to do so simply means the Lakers will have an early exit from the playoffs.

Lead photo caption: Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis scores 30 points to go with 13 rebounds against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game played Nov. 12, 2023. Davis and the Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers, 116-110. Photo credit: Robert Clarke/News4usonline