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NBA: Davis steals spotlight in Lakers' Game 1 win over Warriors

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TJ Manotoc, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (Top) shoots a two point basket against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter of Game 1 in the NBA Western Conference semifinals at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, USA, May 2, 2023. John G. Mabanglo, EPA-EFE." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/5/03/050323_nba_lal-anthony-davis_epa.jpg"/><figcaption>Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (Top) shoots a two point basket against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter of Game 1 in the NBA Western Conference semifinals at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, USA, May 2, 2023. J<em>ohn G. Mabanglo, EPA-EFE.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>SAN FRANCISCO -- All the hype in the last two days, leading up to the epic playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers, had been about LeBron James and Stephen Curry.</p><p>The basketball world clearly has not gotten enough of their battles as they went at each other for four straight finals that resulted in 15 won games for Curry and 7 for James. Three rings for Curry, and one for James.</p><p>But Game 1 in San Francisco clearly had a different tone, as one star took the spotlight and came up with a monster game to stamp his class early. </p><p>Anthony Davis put up massive numbers with 30 points (on 11 of 19 shooting, 23 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks. Not to mention numerous other shots he had bothered, solid screens he made, and ball taps to teammates. Davis was just relentless on both sides of the floor.</p><p>The Lakers won, 117-112, after holding off the Warriors in the fourth quarter.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/03/23/nba-lakers-avert-collapse-hold-off-warriors-in-game-1">NBA: Davis, Lakers hold off Warriors to win opener</a></li></ul><p>Lakers coach Darvin Ham noted that he demanded that domination on both ends from his big man.</p><p>&quot;I mean, he&#x27;s elite defensively. His ability to change shots, block shots, then still gather the rebounds, that&#x27;s rare. That&#x27;s rare company for guys that&#x27;s able to do that. I told him before the game, &#x27;Dominate on both sides of the ball.&#x27; He&#x27;s been doing that. We expect nothing less from him. We expect it to continue,&quot; Ham noted post-game.</p><p>For James, who has had success in past teams as part of a &quot;Big 3,&quot; he relishes this opportunity to continue to run with his partner in Davis. They had steered the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship in the &quot;bubble&quot; in Florida.</p><p>&quot;For us, we&#x27;ve been a part of this franchise the longest that&#x27;s on this franchise right now. We&#x27;ve had our battles together. For us to be able to have that relationship with the coaching staff, have that relationship with Coach Ham, him to be able to trust us on the floor that we can be a extension of his, relay his commands, his messages, it just makes it a lot calming for him that he knows he has guys on the floor that has been in a fight, has been in a foxhole and has experience in tough games,&quot; said James. </p><p>&quot;Every game and every day is another learning experience for our coaching staff and for us. We just try to make it as seamless as possible when we step on the floor with the game plan they&#x27;re giving us.&quot;</p><div><strong>WATCH: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hSrqHiLqaHE?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>For his part, Davis credits his teammates who constantly found him at the right spots that he says made it easier for him to contribute.</p><p>&quot;The guys gave the ball to me in the right spots. A lot of it came out of pick and roll, post-ups, some offensive rebounds. Just being aggressive when I do catch, looking to score, looking to play make to the other guys. That was the guards finding me early, which allowed them to play free later on in the game,&quot; Davis said.</p><p>That early impact of Davis turned beneficial for his other teammates in the second half as Golden State’s defenses started sticking closer to him, opening up driving lanes for James and D’Angelo Russel. </p><p>Russel eventually sparked a massive third-quarter run, giving them enough cushion in the fourth quarter.</p><p>Defensively, the Warriors will continue to have their hands full trying to contain Davis in this series. In Game 1, Davis showed he was quicker and more agile than Kevon Looney and used his size advantage shooting over Draymond Green.</p><p>When asked if this year’s playoff run has his proving his critics wrong, Davis had this to say: &quot;It doesn&#x27;t matter to me. I don&#x27;t care what no one thinks. Only the guys in the locker room, coaching staff, only opinions that I care about. Other than that, I just go out and play basketball, do what I can do to help the team win. Opinions outside the locker room, what guys say, guys think, is irrelevant to me.&quot;</p>

Anthony Davis took the spotlight in Game 1, coming up with a monster game for the Los Angeles Lakers.

NBA: Davis steals spotlight in Lakers' Game 1 win over Warriors

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NBA: Davis steals spotlight in Lakers' Game 1 win over Warriors

TJ Manotoc,

ABS-CBN North America News Bureau

Published May 03, 2023 06:13 PM PHT

Read More:

basketball

NBA

Los Angeles Lakers

Anthony Davis

Golden State Warriors

LeBron James

Stephen Curry

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