Heading into their six-game road trip, which will be the last long trip away from home before the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers had won three straight games and seemed to be figuring some things out on how to close the regular season on a strong note while securing a spot in the Play-In Tournament.
The team’s first opponent on the road was the Milwaukee Bucks, who they faced on Tuesday night without LeBron James due to his ankle issue, which has been bothering him all season long.
Although the Lakers were expected to go down swinging in this matchup with arguably one of the best teams in the league, Anthony Davis and company proved resilient by erasing a massive deficit to force two overtime periods and ultimately get the win.
Even though Austin Reaves got a lot of credit for his late-game heroics in this game, and justifiably so, Davis might’ve been the real hero, as his defense at the end of the game shut the door on the Bucks, which prompted Nick Wright of FOX Sports to dub him the best defensive player on the planet right now via First Things First.
“What I learned is I think AD is the best defensive player on the planet,” Wright said.
“I think AD is the best defensive player on the planet.”
— @getnickwright on the Lakers 2OT win over the Bucks: pic.twitter.com/Qq9gBBVPQt
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) March 27, 2024
In 52 minutes on the floor, Davis scored a game-high 34 points along with ripping down 23 rebounds, blocking four shots and grabbing two steals in the 40th win of the season for the Lakers.
That’s an incredible all-around performance for Davis, who continues to play at an extremely high level this season and make his case for NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
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LeBron James Gets Honest On How It Feels To Play At His Age