Anthony Davis was on the court, but his presence was hardly felt in the first half of Game 3 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ best-of-seven matchup versus the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
With LeBron James carrying his team early in the game, Davis decided to let his superstar teammate know that he was going to do more in the second half.
Anthony Davis: "I told Bron at half I gotta take some of the pressure off of him."
— Bill Oram (@billoram) August 23, 2020
Davis proceeded to score 23 of his 29 points after halftime to support James, who had another magnificent all-around game with 38 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. More importantly, the All-Star tandem led their team to a 2-1 lead in the series with a 116-108 victory over the Blazers.
One of the most versatile big men in the game today, the 6-foot-10 Davis knocked down one jumper after another in the third and fourth quarters to help the Lakers pull off the win.
He also added 11 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and two steals in his most complete game of the series so far.
Despite a subpar first game against Portland, which L.A. lost 100-93, Davis is now averaging 29.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.7 steals a game in the conference quarterfinals. He is also shooting 50.9 percent from the field.
Game 4 is scheduled for Monday as the Lakers look to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
