After their win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, Los Angeles Lakers veteran forward Jared Dudley boosted Anthony Davis’ Defensive Player of the Year campaign.
Via Twitter, Dudley told the media to review the game film of their 117-100 victory over the Rockets on Tuesday. Dudley particularly noted that they should look out for Davis switching on James Harden — who’s much quicker and is one of the best offensive gunners in history.
For all the Media Members that have a vote for the Defensive Player OF The Year Vote please watch the Film of the Lakers Vs Houston Rockets game tonight! See how @AntDavis23 impacts the game of the floor like NO other player. Switching on Harden, blocking and altering shots!
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) January 13, 2021
Statistics and clips reveal that Dudley is right. Apart from scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, Davis also had five blocks. He was instrumental in limiting the Rockets to just 39.2 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from downtown. The Rockets never led in the game and were down by as much as 30 points.
Below is one of Davis’ five blocks. Peep his reaction after denying Sterling Brown’s dunk.
Anthony Davis’ reaction after Sterling Brown tried to dunk on him. #Rockets x #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/C6NiMLRyUe
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta1) January 13, 2021
Dudley built up his argument by noting that Davis is the “scheme” of the Lakers’ defense. He pointed out once again that people should review the film because statistics won’t tell the entire story.
The things we ask @AntDavis23 do is unlike any other player in this league..Some teams have Schemes! He is the Scheme! Stats doesn’t always show it. Like a shutdown corner in the NFL not having a lot of INTs! Don’t look at just Blocks or Steals, please look at the Film 🙏🏽
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) January 13, 2021
For much of his nine-year NBA career, Davis has been tagged as one of the best defenders in the league. Under his resume are multiple selections to the NBA All-Defensive Teams. He also led the league in blocked shots in 2014, 2015, and 2018. Perhaps what’s missing in his resume is a Defensive Player of the Year trophy.
Dudley seems to be very aware of this. Last season, Davis finished second behind Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in the voting for the best defender. This marks the second time Davis has finished among the top-three vote-getters for the Defensive Player of the Year award.
