The evening was successful for the Lakers since their victory, the fourth in a row, against the Jazz ensures a place for the “play-in”. There is only one downside to report: an extension that the “Purple & Gold” would have avoided, and which increased the playing time of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Indeed, the first played 38 minutes, his biggest total since returning from injury ten days ago. The second spent 42 minutes on the floor, unheard of for him since mid-December.
Minutes that will count since, as of this evening, a capital match against the Clippers is looming. The two Los Angeles teams have the same record (41-38) and the winner will take a huge option for sixth place, and therefore for direct qualification for the playoffs.
“These five more minutes clearly didn’t help, that’s obvious. But we needed this victory.confirms LeBron James at ESPN. “We’ll see how my foot feels this Wednesday morning when I wake up. I haven’t played that much in five weeks. »
Can they really miss this important game?
Same logic for Anthony Davis. “I haven’t played a back-to-back in a while”confirms the 2020 champion. There, facing an unmissable match, he will have to continue with 42 minutes in the legs…
Given what is at stake, it seems highly unlikely that the Lakers will face the Clippers without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Especially since with this sixth place in their pocket, the Lakers could breathe the two stars the few days devoted to the “play-in”, before the first match of the first round of the playoffs.
This “sacrifice” could therefore bear fruit for the future. Darvin Ham notably spoke of a “group decision” concerning the presence of James and Davis against Kawhi Leonard and his band.
“We must pay attention to our two logics: the short-term and the long-term”, comments the Californians coach. “The priority is the health of the players, regardless of the consequences of a match. Above all, we need our players to be in good shape. If we find that there are no problems with their health, that there are no risks, then we will move forward. If there are any doubts, we will discuss them. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| lebron james | 51 | 35.6 | 49.9 | 30.3 | 76.6 | 1.3 | 7.2 | 8.5 | 6.9 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 28.8 |
| Anthony Davis | 52 | 33.9 | 57.1 | 26.4 | 78.8 | 3.5 | 8.9 | 12.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 26.6 |
| D’angelo Russell | 14 | 30.0 | 47.5 | 39.8 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 17.1 |
| Russell Westbrook | 52 | 28.7 | 41.7 | 29.6 | 65.5 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 15.9 |
| Dennis Schroder | 64 | 30.2 | 41.8 | 33.3 | 86.6 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 12.7 |
| Austin Reaves | 60 | 28.4 | 52.0 | 38.5 | 86.1 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 12.5 |
| Thomas Bryant | 41 | 21.4 | 65.4 | 44.0 | 74.1 | 1.6 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 12.1 |
| lonnie walker | 55 | 23.5 | 44.7 | 36.3 | 85.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 11.8 |
| Malik Beasley | 22 | 24.3 | 38.0 | 35.2 | 58.3 | 0.2 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 11.1 |
| Rui Hachimura | 29 | 22.4 | 48.6 | 32.2 | 71.7 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 9.4 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt | 22 | 24.8 | 52.5 | 29.6 | 80.6 | 2.0 | 5.2 | 7.1 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 7.3 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 72 | 24.6 | 43.1 | 37.4 | 89.2 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 7.2 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 39 | 13.5 | 40.6 | 32.5 | 81.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 6.7 |
| Patrick Beverly | 45 | 26.9 | 40.2 | 34.8 | 78.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 6.4 |
| Wenyen Gabriel | 64 | 15.2 | 59.6 | 29.4 | 61.9 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 5.6 |
| Mohammad Bamba | 7 | 11.5 | 41.7 | 33.3 | 54.5 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 4.4 |
| matt ryan | 12 | 10.8 | 30.6 | 37.1 | 80.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| Max Christie | 39 | 13.1 | 41.5 | 41.9 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 3.3 |
| Juan Toscano Anderson | 30 | 12.2 | 50.0 | 20.0 | 73.3 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| Damian Jones | 22 | 8.0 | 54.1 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| Scotty Pippen, Jr. | 6 | 5.3 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 55.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| cole swider | 6 | 6.7 | 33.3 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| davon reed | 7 | 3.7 | 75.0 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| Sterling Brown | 4 | 6.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
