THE Los Angeles Lakers secured the No. 1 seed heading into the Western Conference playoffs of the 2019-2020 National Basketball Association (NBA) season following a 116-108 victory over Utah Jazz on Monday night (Tuesday in Manila).
Lakers power forward Anthony Davis spearheaded the attack with a double-double performance of 42 points and 12 rebounds while LeBron James finished the showdown with a near triple-double output of 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
The Lakers (51-15 W-L) will make their first playoff appearance since 2013.
âTo do something like that, itâs been a long time coming for Lakers nation,â Davis said.
It was a back a back and forth action for Los Angeles and Utah until the former went on with a huge run late in the third quarter behind Davis to turn things around and establish a 10-point lead.
The Lakersâ advantage reached as high as 14 points before Utah initiated a late surge to chop the deficit to 108-114.
Davisâ two free throws, however, sealed the deal for the Lakers.
Donovan Mitchell finished the match with 33 points while Mike Conley added 24 markers for Utah which currently sits fifth place in the Western Conference with a 42-25 W-L record. All NBA restart matches are being played at Disney World in Orlando Florida, United States./PN
