Anthony Davis Dominates with 42 Pts, 12 Rebs as Lakers Defeat Devin Booker, Suns 123-110

Anthony Davis Dominates with 42 Pts, 12 Rebs as Lakers Defeat Devin Booker, Suns 123-110 The Los Angeles Lakers took an important step toward avoiding the play-in tournament. Los Angeles defeated the Phoenix Suns 123-110 in Sunday's potential Western Conference playoff preview at Staples Center. Anthony Davis led the way in LeBron James' absence for the Purple and Gold, who improved to 38-30 and snapped their two-game losing skid in the process. Lakers Big Win!!! 💜💛 #LakeShow Anthony Davis, F, LAL: 42 PTS, 12 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL, 3 BLK Alex Caruso, G, LAL: 17 PTS, 8 AST, 3 STL Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, G, LAL: 17 PTS, 3 STL, 4-of-9 3PT Andre Drummond, C, LAL: 6 PTS, 12 REB Ben McLemore, G, LAL: 12 PTS, 4-7 3PT Montrezl Harrell, C, LAL: 12 PTS, 3 REB, 4-6 FG AD Sets the Tone as LeBron-Less Lakers Roll It would be easy to casually dismiss the Lakers' issues and assume things will be fine come playoff time based on last season's championship, but their 2020-21 struggles are not a new development. They were 15-23 in their previous 38 games and 1.5 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers in the race to avoid the play-in tournament. Throw in the absences of James and Dennis Schroder, and it was starting to look like the Purple and Gold will have their backs against the wall in must-win situations in the play-in tournament just to make the traditional eight-team field. Although Kyle Kuzma (lower back tightness) was also out, Los Angeles came out with the urgency one would expect given its situation and jumped out to a commanding 12-point halftime lead. Davis was unstoppable, extending his game to the outside and scoring on the blocks against an overmatched Phoenix frontcourt. That drew additional defenders in, which opened up outside shots for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and lanes for Alex Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker as the Lakers played one of their best halves in weeks. Phoenix tried a zone at times to throw doubles Davis' way, but even that didn't work as he dropped in fadeaways with feathery soft touch, established position down low and helped set up more looks for Caldwell-Pope and Ben McLemore. McLemore in particular caught fire off the bench as the Lakers pulled away in the third, and he fittingly drilled a three in the final seconds of the quarter off a Davis double team to extend the advantage to 21 and all but put it away even though Phoenix cut into the lead down the stretch. While there are still questions about James' status, AD looks healthy and ready to roll. If the Lakers get the version of the eight-time All-Star who took the floor Sunday, they might avoid the play-in tournament after all. So Z Nation, what did you think about AD Monsteras performance against the Phoenix Suns??? Comments down below 💭☑️ Like and Share my videos 👍🏼☑️ ✅ Subscribe to my channel ZSPN on YouTube ✅ Thank you all for watching ZSPN on YouTube http://youtube.com/c/ZSPNSports Check out my podcast, ZSPN , on Anchor! https://anchor.fm/zspn Like my page on Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ZSPNSports/ Follow me on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/zspn_sports Follow me on Instagram: ZSPN_Sports Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3I60o3Wt-X421fEiJSjziA/join 💜GO LAKERS💛