Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are two elite NBA defenders—but not against Anthony Davis.@JonathanTjarks: https://t.co/OV1oEADhXV
— The Ringer (@ringer) August 2, 2020
Everything opened up when the Lakers went small. When they swapped McGee and Green for Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso in the third against the Clippers, they were plus-10 over the next seven minutes. Playing the 5, Davis had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting with two assists during that span. His only miss came on a heat-check 3.
That has been the story for Davis all season. His production skyrockets when he’s the only big man on the floor. He has a true shooting percentage of 65.8 and a usage rate of 28.8 in 749 minutes without McGee or Dwight Howard next to him. That is the type of efficiency you expect out of a big man who does nothing but catch lobs. To give you an idea of just how incredible AD’s numbers are in that role, no one with a usage rate higher than 28 (the workload of a primary option) has a true shooting percentage above 62 this season. He’s completely unstoppable when the Lakers give him the space to play one-on-one at the rim.
That was true even when LeBron went to the bench Thursday. The Lakers were plus-5 in the final five minutes of the third with Davis, Kuzma, KCP, Caruso, and Dion Waiters on the floor. They had no traditional point guard, so they ran everything through their other MVP-caliber big man.
An excellent article by Jonathan Tjarks for the Ringer that highlights the big advantage the Lakers have when they go small with AD at the five.