Los Angeles Lakers: Anthony Davis Eager to Renew Nikola Jokic Rivalry After Game 1 Loss Vs. Denver Nuggets

Davis finished Saturday’s defeat with a game-high 32 points on 12-of-23 shooting, 14 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks in 45 minutes of play. Despite his heroic effort, however, the Nuggets were still able to secure a crucial victory to go up 1-0 in the series.

After the game, Davis admitted that Jokic and the rest of Denver’s frontcourt just outplayed the Lakers in Game 1:

“We just got to box out. Put a body on their bigs,” Davis said, via Corey Hansford of Lakers Nation. “Aaron Gordon, DJ, Jokic, we just got to get into their legs. If we just sit there and try to sit on top of their legs, they usually just outjump you. That hurt us tonight, the offensive rebounds on their side, especially in the third quarter and late in the second.”

Anthony Davis Looking Forward to Rematch Vs. Nikola Jokic

At this point, Davis is not crying over spilled milk. Instead, he’s looking forward to facing off on Jokic again in Game 2 — with a little extra motivation:

“Yeah. Kind of got to it late,” Davis said when asked about guarding Jokic more. “Before, Rui (Hachimura) has done a nice job on him previously, just being physical with him and pushing the catches out, making it tough for him shooting over the top.

“But yeah, like I said, we’ll look at it and make our adjustments. Talk among ourselves and just kind of see if we’re helping Rui, if we’re leaving him on an island when he scores and things like that. Then we’ll make the proper adjustments going into Game 2. If that means that I’m on him for the whole game then so be it. But that was the game plan going into tonight.”

Davis is clearly willing to do everything it takes to help the Lakers win — even if it requires him to be the focal point on both ends of the floor. He did look pretty gassed at the end of Game 1, but right now, fatigue just isn’t an option for AD and LA.