Davis scores 38 to lead Lakers past Raptors
Baku, November 2, AZERTAC
Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis scored a season-high 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 131-125 win over the Toronto Raptors in Friday evening's NBA action, Xinhua reported.
Teammate LeBron James also put on a show in front of a sold-out Scotiabank Arena crowd with 27 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. The 22-year veteran and all-time scoring leader drilled a season-best five 3-pointers on eight attempts.
In six games so far this season, 31-year-old Davis has eclipsed the 30-point mark for the fourth time and currently leads the league in scoring with 31.8 points per game. With the win, the Lakers improve to 4-2 and are a perfect 4-0 when Davis scores 30 or more.
"We ran a few things for him but it wasn't like we featured him. It's a testament to how we envision our offense," said the Lakers' rookie head coach JJ Reddick. "The ball has got to find the best players and the ball's going to find AD (Anthony Davis) to play the way we want to play."
Reddick's squad had an explosive start to the game, shooting a blistering 69.6 percent (16-for-23) from the field to a 43-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. The lead was sustained at halftime, where the Lakers led 76-51.
"Our team in that first half probably played our best half of basketball," Reddick added. "It wasn't mistake-free, but you could make a legitimate case that we should have had 83 (points)."
At the midway mark, the Lakers were shooting 62.2 percent from the field while holding the Raptors to 39.3 percent.
In the second half, their opponents woke up, starting the third quarter on a 30-13 run to cut the lead to 89-81, the first single-digit margin since the score was 11-2.
"In the NBA when you get a big lead, your focus can wane on the defensive end, and I think that's what happened tonight," said 40-year-old Reddick. "You also have to give them a lot of credit. They played really hard and just kept playing."
Toronto failed to mount a comeback in the final quarter, as the Lakers kept the lead above six the rest of the way to hang on for the road win.
The Lakers' starting guards Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell contributed with 20 and 19 points, respectively.
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