The Los Angeles Lakers have won five of their last six games since LeBron James tweeted out the hourglass emoji on X/Twitter, beating the Detroit Pistons 125-111 on Tuesday night in Spencer Dinwiddie’s debut with his hometown team.
Los Angeles Lakers Run Away with Win in Dinwiddie’s Debut
The Lakers jumped out to an early lead behind the impressive first-quarter scoring of Rui Hachimura and many eye-popping dimes by 3rd-year guard Austin Reaves, never looking back against the Pistons. Reaves, typically known for scoring, dished out two flashy behind-the-back passes to LeBron and Anthony Davis in the first quarter on his way to finishing the contest with six assists and seven rebounds on the game, along with 15 points, a block, and a steal. Hachimura had seven of the Lakers’ first ten points of the game. Hachimura finished the game with 15 points on 70% shooting with five rebounds, getting his 5th straight start.
Austin Reaves 😵😵 pic.twitter.com/wZUixjYcl6
— NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) February 14, 2024
After the game, Detroit’s rookie Ausar Thompson highlighted the Laker’s early intensity, saying, “They definitely jumped on us early on.” Thompson, who led the Pistons team in scoring, put up 19 points in the game, continued, “They played very fast off makes, misses, running up the court. They’re big, so they would post us up. We came in talking about it, but we’ve got to do a better job executing.”
Dinwiddie checks in. Dinwiddie finds Wood for the bucket. 😈🔥 pic.twitter.com/CG78zUkKD7
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) February 14, 2024
Spencer Dinwiddie first checked into the game for D’Angelo Russell with 5:24 left in the first quarter, immediately dropping a dime to Christian Wood. The Los Angeles native out of Taft High School in Woodland Hills finished with six points and seven assists in his debut with the Lakers. Dinwiddie started 48 games for Brooklyn this season, averaging 12.6 points, over three rebounds, and six assists per game for the Nets while shooting around 40% from the floor and only 32% from three. LeBron James added 25 points and eight assists while shooting 60% from the floor and 50% from deep, hitting three shots from beyond the arc. D’Angelo Russell scored 21 points and hit four 3-pointers for the Lakers.
“That was fire, that was elite. Obviously, you always wanna play in front of your home city, you always wanna have the crowd behind you. There’s nothing like this fan base.” Spencer Dinwiddie speaks on the home crowd’s energy and getting adjusted to the #LakeShow. pic.twitter.com/iqVsh2S8Qa
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 14, 2024
Los Angeles Lakers New Starting Five Off to Hot Start
Rui Hachimura says things are "smooth" with the current starting lineup.
"We have a lot of chemistry… This lineup is really good for us."
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) February 14, 2024
This game showed another dominant offensive performance by the Los Angeles Lakers new starting lineup of Russell, Reaves, Rui, LeBron, and AD, which combined for 96 points against Detroit, after the starters combined for 119 points against the Pelicans. Since Rui has been moved to the starting lineup, the Lakers have only lost to the Denver Nuggets, while Hachimura has averaged over 12 points per game, four rebounds, and an assist while shooting nearly 60% in 12 games as a starter this season. One game after the Lakers set their second-highest scoring first half in franchise history against the Pelicans with 87 points, the Lakers, behind 18 points and 12 boards from Anthony Davis, went into the half up 71-48 on the Pistons, matching the Lakers’ biggest halftime margin of the season. Detroit head coach Monty Williams, on the halftime deficit, stated, “That was pretty much the game, there was more to it than that, but that put us in such a hole. I think they have a game tomorrow, and I felt like their mindset was like, We’ve got to jump on these guys right away. We didn’t understand that.”
Anthony Davis Enters Defensive Player of the Year Conversation
Anthony Davis had 20 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists, but his most significant contribution to the game was his six blocks as Davis led the Los Angeles Lakers defense as usual. James, after the match, repeatedly referred to his teammate, Davis, as “the defensive player of the year,” highlighting a sequence in the third quarter as Davis was the only man back on a 3-on-1 Pistons fast break but still managed to stop Jaden Ivey. Davis this season is averaging over a steal per game and ranks 5th in the league with 2.5 blocks per game. Surprisingly, the standout Center for Kentucky has never won the award, with Davis commenting, “I feel like I should have won it a couple of times, but didn’t.” Davis said, “At this point, I’m just trying to win and continue to have a presence on the defensive end. If that seems to be in the plans for me to win it this year, then obviously, it would be exciting for me to have one under my belt, but I feel like I could’ve had a couple of them in my career.”
Anthony Davis breaks down his mindset on the 3-on-1 defensive stop and his opinion on the DPOY award. pic.twitter.com/wPRjF3ASnV
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 14, 2024
The Laker’s two older superstars got much-needed rest as LeBron only played 31 minutes while Davis sat out the entire fourth quarter, resting his legs for the back-to-back set. After the game, James informed the media he plans to rest against Utah on Wednesday, the Laker’s last game before the All-Star break, where LeBron will participate for the 20th time. Dinwiddie will likely have a more prominent role in Utah tonight with LeBron out, showing the value he can provide as a decent scoring option and a great playmaker off the bench for the Lakers.
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