In the third quarter of Friday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Davis sprained his ankle and was in danger of having to sit out the rest of the contest. However, he kept playing, and he played very well.
But while Davis lay on the ground in pain after turning his ankle, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert said he didn’t take advantage because he felt it would’ve been “ruthless,” and he admitted that’s when the game turned.
Gobert said the mess as AD went down was turning point:
"I had the ball in my hands and I couldve went and dunked it, but AD was laying there. So I was like, that’s too ruthless, I’ll just pass it out. After that it was just turnover after turnover. It was just a tough stretch."— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) April 1, 2023
At halftime, the Lakers trailed by 10 and were struggling offensively. But around the time Davis got hurt, they started to turn it on.
Their defense ratcheted up a few notches, which led to many missed shots and turnovers for Minnesota that fed the Lakers’ transition game.
All of a sudden, they were the ones who were in control, and they wouldn’t let Minnesota get back into the swing of things, as they scored a 123-111 victory.
Davis was dominant with 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting while also taking down 17 rebounds, and even though he wasn’t 100 percent in the fourth quarter, he kept dominating the Timberwolves. He was the catalyst throughout, as only one of his teammates scored more than 15 points.
After the game, head coach Darvin Ham said that Davis’ injury shouldn’t be a big factor moving forward.
Friday’s win put Los Angeles into seventh place in the Western Conference, and with a 39-38 record, it has moved over .500 for the first time in what seems like forever.
There is always a real chance that Davis’ ankle will stiffen up overnight and threaten his availability for the team’s next game, which will take place on Sunday at the Houston Rockets. But he deserves lots of credit for playing through the type of pain that may have sidelined some other athletes or at least greatly hampered them.
