Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis Dominates in Win Over Indiana Pacers

The Los Angeles Lakers outdueled the Indiana Pacers for a narrow 112-111 win on Thursday night thanks to a resurgent game from big man Anthony Davis. The eight-time All Star played his best game since injuring his groin in mid-December, piling up 31 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and two blocks.

AD with the go-ahead bucket and the lead-saving block 〰 pic.twitter.com/YW6ewwr643
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 3, 2023

Davis hit 13 of his 27 field goal attempts and sunk all five of his free throws. He also scored the game's final points and delivered a victory-sealing block in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. It was his most points and his most rebounds since a groin injury cost him 20 games from December to January. For the season, he's averaging an impressive 26.9 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game with a deadly .578 field-goal percentage.

Despite featuring one of the NBA's best duos in Davis and LeBron James, the Lakers are 25-28 and 12th in the Western Conference. Davis's 24 missed games are partly to blame, but the Lakers' issues run deeper than just that. Even if Davis and James can manage a healthy finale to the 2022-23 season, they'll need some luck to make the playoffs. As it stands, they have work to do just to get into the play-in tournament. Excluding the 2019-20 pandemic season in which they won a title in the NBA Bubble, the Lakers have yet to win a playoff series since James joined the team in 2018.

The Lakers will visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.