The Los Angeles Lakers managed to take care of business as they defeated the New Orleans Pelicans to earn their fourth straight win of the 2019-20 NBA season.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis both recorded double-doubles as the former finished with 17 points and 15 assists while the latter put up an impressive 46 points on 15-of-21 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds. Meanwhile, Danny Green had a hot shooting night from beyond the arc as he drained six of his 10 three-point attempts en route to 25 points.
The Lakers offense has picked up as of late and most of that can be attributed to Davis looking more and more comfortable as the primary option in head coach Frank Vogel’s offensive scheme. When James was asked if Davis has gotten better since the beginning of the season, he made it a point to say the rest of the roster has improved.
“Yes, that’s for all of us since November. We all have grown and figured out ways we can continue to help each other,” James explained.
“I think for him, any time you come from a different program or a different franchise and a different system, it takes a little while to kind of understand how you’re gonna be your best for the better of the team and I think every month AD has gotten better and the rest of the team has just fallen behind that.”
At the beginning of the new season, Davis appeared to be finding his footing playing next to James and the rest of the Lakers, figuring out when to be aggressive and where on the floor he would get his looks from. However, he has made significant strides since then, looking much more decisive and aggressive now that he has a better understanding.
The rest of the purple and gold have also seemed to settle in nicely as everyone has a clear idea of their role on the team and what is expected of them on a nightly basis. That kind of chemistry and cohesion is built on time together and it appears the Lakers are right on schedule relative to this point in the season.
However, Vogel needs to do a better job of drawing up plays and getting the most out of his team when either Davis or James sits as opposing units have been able to mount runs against lineups featuring bench players. Hopefully, this is an issue that gets resolved sooner rather than later given the team’s championship aspirations.
