LeBron James carried Lakers to win over Spurs, says Anthony Davis
Wednesday 27 November 2019 07:57, UK
Anthony Davis credited LeBron James with leading the Los Angeles Lakers to their eighth straight win, a 114-104 road victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
James had 33 points and 14 assists as the Lakers won in San Antonio for the second time this season.
"Bron carried us tonight, hit big shot after big shot," Lakers forward Davis said.
The Spurs struggled to contain James in the fourth quarter and DeMar DeRozan knew first-hand San Antonio's best chance against LeBron was to hope he missed shots. Keep hoping.
Showered with "MVP! MVP!" chants by a large contingent of Lakers fans at the AT&T Center, James put on a vintage fourth-quarter performance against the Spurs, scoring 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting along with five assists. Overall, he finished the game 13-for-24 from the field and 4-for-7 on three-pointers in 35 minutes.
DeRozan competed for nine seasons with Toronto against James when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Heat.
DeRozan never got past James to reach the NBA Finals during his tenure with the Raptors. "It is tough, LeBron is LeBron for a reason," DeRozan said. "He has been doing it for 17 years. I faced him a lot throughout my career. You just try to throw different looks at him, but a guy like that has seen every look, every combination of rotations. You have just got to make it difficult and hope he misses."
James was surprised by the cheers given he was the recipient of thunderous boos when he played against the Spurs in the 2013 and 2014 NBA Finals with Miami.
"I'm very appreciative because I've definitely gotten a lot of boos in this building in my career, playing a lot of Finals games in this building," James said. "To be able to have that support and they respect the way I play the game and they love the Lakers, it's just a very humbling moment."
Lakers fans had a lot to cheer this season in San Antonio. The team have one game remaining against the Spurs on February 4 in Los Angeles but have already won the three-game series against their long-time rivals in the Western Conference.
James also made the defensive play of the game. Trey Lyles blocked Davis' short jumper in the paint with 20 seconds left in the first half. Dejounte Murray collected the block and sprinted downcourt for a lay-up but James ran down the Spurs' speedy point guard and blocked his attempt from behind.
The play was reminiscent of James block of Golden State's Andre Iguodala with less than two minutes remaining in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, which the Cleveland Cavaliers won.
James hit consecutive step-back three-pointers in the fourth quarter that produced a 93-85 lead and followed it up with a drive and alley-oop pass to JaVale McGee for his 10th assist of the evening.
What's next for LA?
The Lakers travel to face Davis' former team, the New Orleans Pelicans. Watch the game live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning (2:30am).
