Through 24 games of the 2019-20 NBA season, Anthony Davis has been absolutely everything and more the Los Angeles Lakers could have hoped for.
Davis has established himself as a dominant force on both ends of the floor as he can do everything on defense while still being able to score at will on offense. His two-way presence has propelled the Lakers to the top of the Western Conference and they appear to be one of the favorites to win the 2020 NBA Finals.
His steady rise on offense has been particularly enjoyable to watch as he has seemed to finally hit his stride on that side of the floor. Davis has shown that he is capable of posting up and finishing over opposing bigs or taking them out to the perimeter where he is more than capable of hitting jumpers from the midrange area and beyond the arc.
In their most recent win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Davis dropped 50 points which put him right in the franchise’s history books, according to Joey Ramirez of Lakers:
Lakers with 50-point games this decade.
• Kobe Bryant
• LeBron James
• Anthony DavisThat’s it.
— Joey Ramirez (@JoeyARamirez) December 9, 2019
LeBron James was no slouch himself in the game as he poured in 32 points of his own and according to Lakers PR, he and Davis were able to associate themselves with another historically great Lakers duo:
According to #Lakers PR:
LeBron James and Anthony Davis first Lakers duo to combine for at least 70 points in consecutive games since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in 2003. pic.twitter.com/27gBPwn5ow
— Dan Duangdao (@DanDuangdao) December 9, 2019
Kobe Bryant is the scoring standard when it comes to the purple and gold, so having two players of Davis and James’ caliber who are both able to erupt at any point is a scary thought for the rest of the league. The Davis-James pairing has been effective since the 2019 NBA preseason, but the last couple of games have really emphasized just how high this team’s ceiling is when they are both playing to their level.
Even with Davis and James hitting historic heights with the Lakers, they and the rest of the team remained focused on winning a championship this season.
With the way they are currently playing, it seems hard to imagine anyone beating them in a seven-game series.
