WHEN LeBron James came back, Los Angeles was back.
Suddenly, the Lakers’ crown looked secure.
Beleaguered as they were being pushed close to elimination, the Lakers were resurrected with the return of James.
James breathed new life to a Los Angeles squad on the verge of death. James has been the Lakers’ oxygen for life, the one savior when chaos creep in from nowhere.
Then it happened. Again.
James reinjured his ankle and has missed four games since.
This, after being out for six weeks, the longest ever National Basketball Association (NBA) absence for the best player on the planet.
Worse, James has been joined in the injured list by the hot shooting Kyle Kuzma. As if that was not enough, Dennis Schroder, the German juggernaut, has been out, too, for quite some time now due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols (Covid-19 issues?).
Thanks to Anthony Davis, he isn’t tossing in the towel as he keeps on shepherding the Lakers.
Davis, scoring 42 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, led the Lakers to a wire-to-wire 123-110 victory over the powerhouse Phoenix Suns on Monday.
That gave Los Angeles an inspiring 38-30 record and just one game behind Portland at No. 6 in the Western Conference.
The Top 6 will advance to the playoff outright, freeing them from the play-in tournament in case of ties.
There are four games left and the Lakers, known to famously rise to the occasion when their backs are against the wall, should score well to clinch a hassle-free trip to the playoffs.
And with Davis showing nerves of steel in the absence of James, the Lakers might just make it—beginning with their game against the New York Knicks today, Wednesday.
“I’m getting my legs back,” said Davis in the win against Phoenix. “I’m getting my rhythm back. I’m getting better each game, getting my wind back each game.”
Davis was inspired by his backup’s splendid performance against the Suns, with Ben McLemore going 4-for-7 from rainbow territory and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 4-of-9 as LA buried 17 threes.
Even the usually unsteady Alex Caruso gave LA 17 points, 11 more than his average.
An elated Davis, who was 15-of-17 from the line, said: “We’re headed in the right direction.”
Will the Lakers stay the course in today’s crucial game against the Knicks?
THAT’S IT Happy birthday today, May 12, to Migel (yes, without a “u”), the History freshman at Ateneo de Manila who dreams of becoming an environmental scientist someday. “History and environment go together like horse and carriage,” says Migel, Kuya Biley to handsome Ikap Sadiwa. “Anything about environment, there’s history in it.” Migel’s mind makes the unknown known. The future looks good.