After the painful loss to the Kings, the Lakers have been close to signing another serious setback in the visit of the Detroit Pistons to the Staples Center. Vogel’s men, however, managed to hold on to the win this time around to win 110-106, avoiding what would have been a truly troublesome loss to the third worst team in the competition, at least according to the standings. The Angelenos suffered to close the clash, but ended up adding another victory to return to a balanced balance (11-11).
Although many eyes were on LeBron James and Isaiah Stewart for their recent clash, both left their friction behind and were exclusively focused on basketball, avoiding any kind of dispute. The Lakers could therefore do what he knows best, which is to play, and signed a great performance that was essential in the local triumph. With 33 points, the forward finished as the top scorer of the match, and also managed to distribute 9 assists and capture 5 rebounds to become the best of the match.
James had the support of the other two Los Angeles stars, as both Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook also responded to the team’s emergencies with their best version. The power forward signed a double-double 24 points and 10 rebounds, while the point guard returned to set a very complete game by finishing with 25 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds, and both did so also shooting above 60% of effectiveness (LeBron also achieved 60%). This made Vogel’s men more sustained than ever by their Big 3, as only Talen Horton-Tucker, with 12 goals, accompanied them in double digits.
At the Pistons, Jerami Grant stood out with 32 points thanks to her 11/20 shooting (4/6 from 3-pointers), followed by Frank Jackson’s 17 and Cade Cunningham’s 15. The number 1 in the draft achieved a double-double by also capturing 11 rebounds, although he committed 5 losses that weighed on his performance.
A decisive 16-0
The crash was being very even until the Lakers, with a 16-0 run in the third quarter, managed to break it. The hosts shot their lead to 19 points (77-58) thanks to their longest streak of consecutive points of the season, which seemed to leave them very expensive to win against a rival who does not have plenty of resources. However, it is not precisely the consistency that has characterized the gold and purple throughout this year.
During the fourth period, those of Michigan were little by little closing distances, and came to bring fear to the Staples stands, which began to fear a debacle of their own. LeBron, with several baskets and assists in the last minutes, prevented that from happening, but even so the Angelenos suffered much more than expected against the Pistons who had several options to reduce the difference even more. In the end, however, the victory fell on the side of the hosts, who will be able to breathe a sigh of relief a few days before their next game, which will take place in Sacramento.
(Cover photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
