Anthony Davis Is Taking Charge Of The Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have begun their season with a 2-0 record for the first time in 14 years and at the forefront of their early season success is Anthony Davis. Davis has always been a dominant force offensively but this season he has truly been the focal point of the Lakers offense. Davis has begun the season averaging 35.5 points and 12 rebounds with a true shooting percentage of 64. His brilliance in the paint has been a constant source of reliable scoring for the Lakers. Davis has always been a great scorer but this season thus far he seems to be truly taking charge of games.

The most noticeable thing that has changed for Davis this season has been his usage rating. Last season Davis had a usage rating of 26.1 percent, and this season so far it has risen to 32.2 percent. Davis’ field goal attempts have also increased with his usage percentage. Davis averaged 16.9 field goal attempts last season and that number has risen to 20.5 so far this season. With LeBron James advancing in age, new head coach JJ Redick is placing more of the offensive burden on Davis and it has been working well. So far this season Davis is shooting 73.7 percent in the restricted area, where the majority of his shots are coming from. Davis has also shown some proficiency between 10-14 feet where he is shooting 50 percent. Constant dives to the rim out of the pick n’ roll and a high level of aggression from Davis have made guarding the All-Star big man a nightmare for opposing teams thus far.

Last night was a masterclass in pick n’ roll scoring from a big man. Austin Reaves and Davis’s synergy in their two man game was a catalyst in Los Angeles being able to pick up the win over the Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles attacked Phoenix’s bigs all throughout the game, and Davis was the main component in that attack. Davis’ screening is valuable because he always puts himself in position to give the ball handler an easy read, and his high level finishing also makes guarding him in the pick n’ roll extremely difficult.

Here, after receiving a screen from Gabe Vincent, Reaves begins to move downhill and Davis slips the screen and rolls to the basket. Slipping the screen allows Davis to dive to the rim immediately and with a pump fake he gets Jusuf Nurkic in the air and finishes with a dunk. Davis’ timing and positioning in pick n’ rolls is wonderful and he allows the ball handler to have a simple read to make based on his positioning.

Here, Reaves rejects the ball screen from Davis which puts Mason Plumlee in a disadvantageous situation, and Davis is parallel with Reaves in this action which allows Reaves to make the simple pocket pass and Davis rises up for the push shot.

It wasn’t only the pick n’ roll where Davis punished Phoenix last night, he also simply used his size and skill to attack off the dribble. Here, Plumlee is sagging heavily off of Davis so after receiving a pass from D’Angelo Russell, Davis attacks that open space with a hesitation which causes Plumlee to back pedal and allows Davis to hit the pull-up mid range jumper. Davis’ on ball skill as a big man allows him to attack most center matchups, especially centers like the ones in Phoenix.

Even reigning defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert had trouble guarding Davis on their opening night matchup.

Here, Davis has Gobert in isolation, and after a momentary size-up, Davis drives right by him and earns the goaltending call. An advantage that Davis has long had at the center position is that he is faster than most of the centers he is matched up against, and Gobert was no exception.

Here, Minnesota is attempting to alleviate the pressure on Gobert by having Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid provide some gap help. Davis recognizes that Minnesota has defenders pinching in and with the shot clock running down he simply steps back and fires a high arching mid range shot over the 7 '9 wingspan of Gobert and gets it to fall. Davis is shooting 35 percent on mid range shots so far this season and it will be imperative that this shot is a consistent weapon for him so he can better attack defenses.

It is obvious that Davis’ scoring will be crucial to Los Angeles success this season but with James beginning to take on a lesser role it is important that Davis be able to continue to be the focal point of the offense. Davis’ screening will continue to be extremely important for this offense and opening things up for the ball handlers such as Russell and Reaves, but ultimately it will be Davis’ play finishing and overall scoring that will determine just how far this Lakers team can go. If these initial two games are any indication, then things will go well.