{"id":67266,"date":"2024-03-11T10:44:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T14:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=67266"},"modified":"2024-03-11T10:46:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T14:46:00","slug":"anthony-davis-strengthens-dpoy-case-with-historic-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/11\/anthony-davis-strengthens-dpoy-case-with-historic-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Davis Strengthens DPOY Case with Historic Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the Lakers continued their quest to climb out of the Play-in Tournament, they were once again led by <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a>\u00a0in a key matchup against the Timberwolves<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Despite <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SpectrumSN\/status\/1766357072176873504\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">injuring his left shoulder<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> against the Bucks, the star big man persevered and made history Sunday night. It not only strengthened the Lakers\u2019 case as a postseason threat but added to Davis\u2019s case for Defensive Player of the Year.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Anthony Davis Strengthens DPOY Case with Historic Performance<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Background<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthony Davis recorded 27 points, 25 rebounds, five assists, seven steals (career-high) and three blocks as the Lakers beat the Wolves, 120-109. The Brow became <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lakers\/status\/1767042602413814254\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the first player in NBA history<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to record such a stat, and he was also the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LADEig\/status\/1767037894722523349\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first Laker since<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/onealsh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to go for 25 points and 25 rebounds. In a season full of history for the purple and gold, Davis continues to make his mark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Anthony Davis&#039; HISTORIC Performance vs The Timberwolves! \ud83e\udd2f | March 10, 2024\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5pGTJSbl7dE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/39705490\/anthony-davis-puts-historic-stat-line-lakers-wolves\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin<\/a> added some perspective to AD\u2019s outing and where it stands in the Lakers\u2019 history books:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDavis&#8217; 7 steals were a career high and the most by a Lakers player since Lou Williams in December 2015. Davis&#8217; rebounding total was one shy of his career high and the most by a Lakers player since Dwight Howard in January 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And Davis did it the day before his 31st birthday.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The game was a must-win to help the Lakers improve in the conference standings. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/39679952\/minnesota-timberwolves-winning\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Timberwolves<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> fell to no. 3 after occupying the no. 2 seed in the West, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/10\/3-nba-title-pretenders\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">had been the top seed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> before the Thunder took over. On the other side, the Lakers have remained in the Play-in throughout the season. However, their recent wins have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakersLead\/status\/1767041529934225907\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shortened the gap<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> between them and other contenders, including the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lakers also hit a notable mark last night: they are now <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jovanbuha\/status\/1767039949445144650\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">six games above .500 for the first time in nearly three years<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>AD\u2019s Case for DPOY<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As excellent as Davis&#8217;s offense was, his impressive defense has reignited conversations over his Defensive Player of the Year status. The Wolves may have been missing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/townska01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Karl-Anthony Towns<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rudy Gobert<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but it didn\u2019t matter. Davis once again proved that he never takes nights off and is capable of producing superior stat lines against one of the best teams in the West.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last game they played:<\/p>\n<p>AD<br \/>33 Points <br \/>17 Rebounds <br \/>8 Assists <br \/>4 Steals <br \/>2 Blocks <\/p>\n<p>What are we even doing rn besides hating lol <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gPDPayEeRb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/gPDPayEeRb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; GoldenKnight (@GoldenKnightGFX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GoldenKnightGFX\/status\/1767076295106875746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After Sunday\u2019s win, AD is second in the league in total defensive boards (581) and third in total rebounds (773). Among centers, he\u2019s attained top-five marks in blocks (152, fourth in the NBA) and steals (73, third). Others are right to point out that players like Gobert, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezbr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brook Lopez<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wembavi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Victor Wembanyama<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have stifled opposing offenses for months this season. However, when Davis erases opportunities like he did last night\u2014or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BronnyMuse06\/status\/1764871650657357847\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hounds the competition like this<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014you can\u2019t deny that his chances of earning DPOY should skyrocket.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Davis has been LA\u2019s defensive anchor all season long. His contributions are why the team is sixth in defensive rebounds per game (34.5) and tenth in blocks (5.6). Great defense leads to great offense, and look no further than Davis\u2019s standout season to confirm that. In addition to nearly 25 points and 12 rebounds per game, he has averaged 2.5 blocks and 1.2 steals.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Most 10-stock games among active players:<\/p>\n<p>14 \u2014 Anthony Davis<br \/>4 \u2014 Draymond Green<br \/>4 \u2014 Victor Wembanyama <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zMbLDRBJ0V\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/zMbLDRBJ0V<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1767037209394213234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If AD can string together defensive masterclasses like this one, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Di-Nr5JcNwA?si=3fHcBZaVGFooCGKm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the rest of the Lakers can follow in his footsteps<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Remaining sound on that end of the floor will be key as the Lakers\u2019 tough March schedule continues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And considering the NBA\u2019s new 65-game threshold for awards\u2014with 16 games left in LA\u2019s regular season\u2014there\u2019s a high chance Davis will meet that requirement. But all that aside, Davis has put in the work and clearly meets the criteria for Defensive Player of the Year. It\u2019s time for fans and the league to recognize that.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Last Word on Anthony Davis<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthony Davis has heard the disrespect for far too long. This season, he\u2019s been on a mission to change the narrative\u2014and he\u2019s done so successfully. While the Lakers still have a lot of work ahead, Davis\u2019s dominance makes it easier. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nights like these are what make the Lakers all the more dangerous in the West. Davis has stated previously how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverscreenandroll.com\/2024\/3\/5\/24091712\/lakers-anthony-davis-western-conference-standings-playoff-race-play-in\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the team doesn&#8217;t care about seeding<\/a>, and how anything can happen in the playoffs. AD unlocking this level of play in March may be a sign of great things to come in April&#8212;and possibly beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Lakers continued their quest to climb out of the Play-in Tournament, they were once again led by Anthony Davis\u00a0in a key matchup against the Timberwolves. Despite injuring his left shoulder against the Bucks, the star big man persevered and made history Sunday night. It not only strengthened the Lakers\u2019 case as a postseason [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":67275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62],"tags":[240,213,40976,394],"class_list":["post-67266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-anthony-davis","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-nba-history","tag-rudy-gobert"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}