LeBron James and Anthony Davis both had monster performances last night as they knocked off the No. 2-seeded Denver Nuggets in an overtime thriller last night in the Mile High City. Davis hit a pair of 3-pointers in the overtime period that put the Lakers ahead for good, letting them cruise into the All-Star break with 41-12 record that leads the Western Conference.
But the two stars likely wouldn’t have felt quite as good were it not for the performances of two bench pieces that have provided little things and defense all season long: Alex Caruso and Dwight Howard. Both were instrumental down the stretch of the fourth quarter and in overtime. Howard had 14 points and 11 rebounds on 30 minutes, with much of that coming against Nikola Jokic, while Caruso had 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Their play earned a shout-out from LeBron afterward, echoing the sentiments of Lakers forward Jared Dudley.
Some of their contributions weren’t seen on the box score either. In the overtime, a smart Caruso screen freed Davis for what was the biggest shot of the game.
The Lakers have been led by Davis and James all season, but their season has been about much more than them as well. They showed that last night, just as they did throughout an impressive pre-All-Star stretch of their season.
