HOLLYWOOD SHOWDOWN! Anthony Davis & Rui Hachimura set to feature for Lakers? | SportsCenter
SAGE: IT WAS A HOLLYWOOD SHOWDOWN IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES. KYRIE IRVING AND PAUL GEORGE FOR THE CLIPPERS TAKING ON LEBRON JAMES. CLIPPERS CAME OUT HOT. SEVEN DIFFERENT PLAYERS HITTING A THREE. POWELL HAD FOUR. PAUL GEORGE, JACKSON, EACH HAD THREE APIECE THIS IS IN THE FIRST HALF OVERALL. CLIPPERS, 15 THREES. MOST IN ANY HALF THIS SEASON. THEY WERE UP 23 AT THE HALF. THIRD QUARTER. UNDER 8:00 TO GO. IT’S A 21-POINT GAME. LEBRON TRIED TO BRING THEM BACK. THAT’S A GOOD START FROM BEYOND THE ARC. NOW IT’S A 19-POINT DEFICIT. PATRICK BEVERLEY TO LEBRON. AND WITHIN
16. STILL A LOT OF WORK TO DO HERE EARLY FOURTH, LEBRON JAMES, HEARD OF HIM FROM DOWNTOWN? YEAH. WITHIN 15 POINTS NOW. THERE’S A LOT OF TIME LEFT. BUT THEY GOT TO DO SOMETHING. CAN IT BE JUST LEBRON? I GUESS. HE BECAME THE FIRST PLAYER TO SCORE 40 POINTS AGAINST ALL 30 FRANCHISES WITH THAT BUCKET. THAT’S WITHIN 16. ONE MORE THREE FOR LEBRON JAMES. WHY NOT? SO DALLAS AT 10. DWYANE WADE APPROVES. FIVE TO GO. KAWHI LEONARD HAD 25 POINTS, THREE ASSISTS AND SOME GOOD DEFENSE. THE PICK THERE. COAST-TO-COAST FOR THE JAM. STEVE BALLMER. PAUL
GEORGE. HE HAD 27-9. HE HAD A GOOD NIGHT. AND THE CLIPPERS, THEY’RE NOW 10-0 SINCE TY LUE TOOK OVER AS HEAD COACH. 133-115. THEY
HELLO TO MONICA MCNUTT. WOJ WAS REPORTING THAT ANTHONY DAVIS HAS BEEN OUT SINCE MID DECEMBER WITH THE FOOT INJURY. HE’S EXPECTED TO RETURN IN TONIGHT’S GAME AGAINST THE SPURS AND HOW ABOUT THE NEW KID, RUI HACHIMURA? ALSO AVAILABLE AFTER MONDAY’S TRADE FROM WASHINGTON. SO, IF THIS TEAM CAN GET EVERYBODY THERE AND STAY HEALTHY, WHAT SHOULD OUR EXPECTATIONS BE OF THE LAKERS IN A WIDE OPEN WESTERN CONFERENCE? MONICA: STAY HEALTHY BEING THE KEY PHRASE THERE. HOWEVER, IF THIS TEAM CAN MANAGE TO DO THAT, I WAS COURTSIDE FOR ONE OF ANTHONY DAVIS’S GAME PRIOR TO THE FOOT
INJURY IN PHILADELPHIA. AND WHILE HE STRUGGLED WITH FOUL TROUBLE IN THAT GAME, THERE IS NO DENYING THE WAY THAT HIS PRESENCE SHIFT THE SPACING ON THE FLOOR FOR THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS AND WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THIS ROSTER, AS MUCH AS IT HAS BEEN MAYBE NOT — FOR HIS AGE, YOU DO HAVE A GUY — ANTHONY DAVIS, RUSSELL WESTBROOK, WHO’S BEEN THERE. YOU ION GOT PATRICK BEVERLEY WHO’S BEEN THERE ON DIFFERENT TEAMS. IF YOU HAD TO GIVE ME THE KING VERSUS THE LAKERS PER SE FOR EXAMPLE, I’M NOT 100% SURE OF A TEAM THAT IS
NOW IN A NEWFOUND AREA OF SUCCESS LIKE THE KINGS IS GRIZZLED ENOUGH TO FIGHT AGAINST A TEAM LIKE THE LAKERS? IF THEY CAN STAY HEALTHY, SAGE, I DO THINK THAT THE LAKERS CAN FINISH IN THE TOP SIX IN THE WEST BECAUSE IT IS SO CLOSE. AND I’M TALKING ABOUT A GAME OR HALF A GAME DIFFERENT IF THEY CAN STAY HEALTHY. SAGE: THEY’RE TWO AND A HALF GAMES BEHIND THE WARRIORS BUT COMPARED TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON WHEN WE SAID THEY’RE DEAD, IT’S IMPRESSIVE, I GUESS, WHICH WOULD GIVE THEM A LITTLE BIT OF CREDIT. I
MENTIONED THE WARRIORS. MONICA: IT’S TRUE. SAGE: IT’S ON ESPN. MEMPHIS HAS GONE FROM WINNING 11 STRAIGHT GAMES NOW TO LOSING THREE IN A ROW AND THEY JUST LOST STEPHEN ADAMS WITH A P.C.L. SPRAIN. SO HOW SHOULD MEMPHIS TRY TO ADJUST WITHOUT STEPHEN ADAMS? MONICA: WELL CANDIDLY A LOT OF THAT IS GOING TO FALL ON THE SHOULDER OF JAREN JACKSON JR. WHO IS A WEAPON ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL. THE ONE THING YOU MAY MISS MIGHT NOT BE THE STAT. YOU KNOW THAT STEPHEN ADAMS IS THE ENFORCER THE VETERAN THAT KEEPS THIS YOUNG AND FUNKY
GROUP LEVEL-HEADED. SO I THINK IT’S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT THAT HIS VOICE IS STILL IMPORTANT. I IMAGINING HE WILL BE WITH THE FAMILY AS HE RECOVERS BUT YOU MISS HIS PRESENCE FROM THE PAINT. AND HE IS ALWAYS IN THE RIGHT PLACE AND THE RIGHT TIME. THIS IS A GROUP THAT STILL PUTS TREMENDOUS PRESSURES ON TEAM IN TERMS OF SCORING IN THE PAINT. AND SO I THINK YOU MISS HIS REBOUNDING, HIS LEADERSHIP BUT I’M EXPECTING THIS GROUP TO FIGURE IT OUT IN HIS ABSENCE. SAGE: HE HAS BEEN SO VALUABLE LEADING THE LEAGUE IN OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING AND
DOING IT AGAIN THIS YEA
