After more than two months, Anthony Davis finally returned to the Lakers’ starting lineup. Even though his return didn’t end with a victory, the Lakers should feel relieved of finally getting one superstar back.
Now, Davis returning means that it’s time to answer some questions that were created in his absence. Let’s look at them.
How do Davis and Drummond fit together?
Andre Drummond was signed in the middle of Davis’ injury. In Thursday’s loss to the Mavericks, it was the first time we saw both of them playing together. Both of them are great players, so why many people have been questioning if they can play together. Well, Drummond has different characteristics than the other centers that have played alongside Davis in his time in Los Angeles. Howard, McGee, Gasol, and Harrell are all different from Drummond. Andre is a big defensive and offensive presence who scores and rebounds a lot. This means he plays a lot in the post, potentially creating a spacing problem alongside Davis.
In the loss against the Mavericks, we saw Davis shooting a lot of jumpers. This can be a sign of how things will be, with Drummond on the post and Davis having two spread the floor and hitting jumpers. He didn’t score on jump shots going 2/10 shooting in general, mostly because of how rusty he was after returning from a two-month injury. Still, even though we know Davis can hit that shot, it’s also true that he is better closer to the basket.
Is he fully healthy?
Davis has missed 35 games in total this season. That’s practically half of the 72 games that the 2020-2021 NBA regular season has. In his first game back played on a minute restriction. How long will Davis play on a restriction? Only time will tell.
So far this season he has averaged 21.8 points and 8.2 rebounds. Davis has done that shooting 52% from the field, but only 29% from three. He can clearly play better, and when Davis is healthy, in rhythm, and without restrictions, those numbers should go up. The Lakers for this to happen just in time for the playoffs, as the team looks to win back-to-back championships.
Featured Image: Via Tom Fox/Staff Photographer
