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Anthony Davis posted 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting and 17 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 123-111 comeback victory over the host Minnesota Timberwolves.
Davis turned his ankle midway through the third quarter and went down hard after getting a defensive rebound. It initially appeared as though Davis suffered a potentially severe ailment that would knock him out for the rest of the game and perhaps longer.
However, AD eventually got up and even stayed in the game with his team down 76-70.
The Lakers, who were down by as many as 13 in the third quarter, kept chipping away at the lead and even took a seven-point lead into the fourth.
That’s when Davis took over, scoring 17 points to put the Timberwolves away. He was unstoppable in the paint, and the Minnesota bigs had no answer for him. Davis did all this despite being clearly bothered by the ankle.
It was a clutch performance when the team needed him the most, and teammate D’Angelo Russell gave him credit postgame.
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“Y’all can’t say nothing about 3… that dude came out, showed toughness.” <a href=”https://twitter.com/Dloading?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Dloading</a> praises Anthony Davis’ resiliency after he rolled his ankle. <a href=”https://twitter.com/LakersReporter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@LakersReporter</a> <a href=”https://t.co/y6Vx05u74v”>pic.twitter.com/y6Vx05u74v</a>
Head coach Darvin Ham did too:
The Lakers are in a rock fight to make the postseason with seven teams from fifth to 11th place separated by just three losses. L.A. is right in the middle of that at 39-38 and tied for seventh now after the big win against a Timberwolves team it is fighting for a spot. Minnesota dropped to 39-39 and ninth in the West.
Ultimately, Twitter was quite impressed with Davis’ incredible effort and ability to gut through the pain.
As far as his ankle goes, Davis should be OK going forward, and he also told reporters he’s good for the team’s next game:
That’s great news for the Lakers with Davis on fire right now:
Davis has at least one full day of rest now with the Lakers visiting the Houston Rockets on Sunday evening.
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