NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS VS. NUGGETS

September 24, 2020

Anthony Davis

Los Angeles Lakers

Game 4: Postgame

Los Angeles Lakers 114, Denver Nuggets 108

Q. Anthony, wanted to ask you about the ankle, how it felt right after you rolled it and how it feels now and if you have anything you can expect for treatment tonight.

ANTHONY DAVIS: Ankle feels fine. Got tonight, tomorrow before the game to get it back to, I don't want to say back to where it was, but good enough to play. Rolled it pretty bad but not too bad. I'll be fine.

Q. What did you think was the difference in the game in that first half, the physicality that you guys showed compared to the previous game and how do you think that impacted things tonight?

ANTHONY DAVIS: We were the aggressors tonight. We were more physical. They were the aggressors and the more physical team in Game 3, and we came out and played our style of basketball pretty much for the entire 48 minutes. We had some breakdowns on the defensive end but for the most part we played our style and any time we play our style, we're a tough team to beat. They fought and got back in the game and we continued to play the right way, played fast. Guys made big-time shots, especially Rondo, the three, and then his mid-range. And then KCP with a huge three, LeBron taking the challenge and guarding Murray at the end and getting big stops. Guys making big-time free throws. We played great down the stretch. We played great overall. Still some things that we can fix if we want to put this thing away.

Q. Do you ever feel pride in the sense that the defensive commitment that LeBron's shown, this season in particular, and maybe your role in bringing that out of him in year 17?

ANTHONY DAVIS: I think he just loves challenges, honestly, especially late game. Just like I am with guarding the best big, he wants to guard the best perimeter player and take on the challenge. He did it the last series with James Harden. He wants to take on those challenges and make them score over him. He's a great defensive player. We trust him guarding those guys and making them finish over LeBron James. He did a hell of a job on Jamal Murray, and especially making him drive and not beating us over the top with threes. And we were able to get a couple stops, and then also going to the other end and score, as well.

It's our jobs to protect him, to help him. Defensive end, carried a huge load to guard him but he wants that challenge, he wants that one-on-one challenge, and he did a hell of a job tonight.

Q. You're up 3-1 and you've been here before and finished out the series both times, but is it hard to feel comfortable when it's this team that you have a 3-1 lead against? And my second question is: How has Rondo been doing being from Louisville and being with the news yesterday? What has he shared with you guys about what's going on there and what it's like for him right now?

ANTHONY DAVIS: You can never be comfortable around this team. They have been in this situation twice. We've been in the situation twice. But both teams are familiar with these situations, but this team is not going to go away.

You know, like I said last game, we’ve got to put them away. They are going to continue to fight, no matter what the score is, no matter what the situation is, we just have to make sure we counter everything they do.

As far as Rondo, he doesn't say much about it, but we feel his pain as well. Justice wasn't served in a lot of people's eyes, and you know, Rondo being from Louisville -- and me just playing in Kentucky, I understand how connected everyone is, and so I have a tie kind of somewhat. But we are here for Rondo. We told him, you know, this morning or yesterday, anything he needs from us, we have his back no matter what it is. It's an emotional situation and you know, while we're here fighting for a championship, there's a lot of stuff going on in the real world and we want to also be mindful of that and never lose our fight of what we're doing outside of basketball.

You could tell, it's heavy on his heart for sure. All we can do as a league and especially us as a team, is be there for him, be by his side and continue to support him and pick him up. But I mean, it's tough for all of us to come out and play and for him to come out and play, especially the way he played tonight with everything going on in his backyard. His family is there, so he told me yesterday that they was already like burning things down and stuff like that. Like I said, his family is there, and anything we can do to help him, kind of just keep fighting, we're going to do it.

Q. Coming off a loss in which you called your play unacceptable, how much pressure do you put on yourself before a game like this to carry the team with your aggressiveness?

ANTHONY DAVIS: Just go out there and play. I feel like I was very aggressive tonight, especially the start. I think I still have to do a better job rebounding. It just, you know, you got two bigs in there and you're the four, and Dwight started going to the boards, kind of takes a lot of them.

But we've done a good job of putting me in situations to be successful and be aggressive. And you know, they kind of wanted to try to take me out of it in the second half and I just tried to make the right plays, finding guys and guys started making shots. I just came out on my mind to be ultra-aggressive knowing that in our eyes, we don't want to lose two on the road and it was a must-win game for us.

Q. You mentioned Dwight. What was Dwight's impact especially in the first quarter, and in the fourth quarter, it seemed like there was a moment where you asked to stay in as a center. What went into that?

ANTHONY DAVIS: Dwight's impact this entire series has been very helpful for us. First half, he has six offensive rebounds. His body language with Jokic, just being a pest and taking on that challenge. I mean, like I say, for a guy not to play the last series and come in and have huge impact, he stayed ready. Got the start tonight and been playing well for us.

As far as the end of the game, you talking about when I rolled my ankle?

Q. After that, it seemed like you guys were staying small.

ANTHONY DAVIS: Yeah, I mean, they were kind of trying to go offense, defense, type thing. Jokic had a couple fouls. He came out of the game. I think they played Millsap and Grant at the four and five but crunch time, I'm really not coming out of the game anyway.

So Markieff had just fouled out, so you kind of just stay small. Guys can make plays, kind of matchup with them, and you know, any time Jokic came back in, we'll matchup again. But late game, I'm planning on staying in whatever lineup that Coach had.

Q. As soon as Rajon came from New Orleans, you clicked. What is it about the two of you that worked so well there and translated to work so well now that you're in Los Angeles?

ANTHONY DAVIS: Our competitive nature, will to win. When he first got to New Orleans, he told me he came there because he felt like we had a chance to win. DeMarcus and I, you know, and then having Jrue. He felt like it was a good opportunity to try to help the team and win a championship. DeMarcus got hurt, so it kind of took a turn in our season and in our playoff run.

But when I got traded here, he was actually the first person I called and told him that I wanted him to come back because I knew how much I excelled with him and how much of a leader he is, and his mind-set on the floor and his will to win. And to have a guy like that with his basketball mind, his IQ, with a guy like LeBron, and his basketball mind, his IQ, and eight straight Finals, and Rondo having a championship under his belt, they know what it takes.

Rondo is always in my ear about being the best defensive player on the floor, best offensive player on the floor, even when it doesn't seem possible, he might tell me, I need to go block a shot or close out to a guy, and then swing it across the floor, I need to be there, too.

I say, "Do, that's impossible."

He’s like, "I don't care, at the end of the day, you should be able to do it."

He always put pressure on me to do the impossible things. It's not easy but if you want to win, you've got to do those type of things. He just been on me since I've been his teammate, and he wants the best for me. He wants to win. I want to win. Any time you got two guys who want to win so bad. It's like he hasn't won one, it's been ten years. He wants to win as bad as I do, and when you have that with another guy who wants to win just as bad as us, we make a good team.

Q. After you rolled the ankle, you bent down, tying your laces and you went to the time-out and you didn't sit. You had to walk through it. What was going on physically and mentally in those first few minutes of that time-out? What did you go through?

ANTHONY DAVIS: Mostly I was just trying to just stay locked into the game. I mean, I knew I wasn't going to come out. And physically, I didn't want to sit down because I didn't want to give it a chance to swell up or anything like that. So, I wanted to just keep moving and trick my body to think that I'm still playing and keep that adrenaline and blood flowing. I didn't want to sit down with it. Keep moving. Stretched my ankle doing some resistance band stuff. You know, not stop moving and letting the ankle swell up.

It helped. But I know it's going to be a little sore and tender tomorrow, like any other time you tweak something. Like I said, get some treatment around the clock and be ready for Game 5.

Q. You said you didn't want to come out at crunch time. Your fourth quarter numbers are pretty spectacular. What does that mean to you and what's your mentality in those moments and what does it mean to be able to, whether it's a buzzer beater or at the free throw line, help put these games away?

ANTHONY DAVIS: I want to be aggressive, take some pressure off this guy over here. A lot of teams lock in on him late game. I want to be able to take away some of that pressure and have them lock in on all the guys. It's not me; it's our entire team. Guys are making big-time plays. We swing it to KCP and he makes a three. We swing it to Rondo, he makes a three. We get a drive, offensive rebound.

We know when teams are locked in on a guy, when you have a mismatch, it's our jobs to move, to cut, and to make plays for him. You know, when I'm in the game, like I said, try to get to the line and make a play for myself or for others and take the pressure off LeBron. He does the same for me. When I have the ball or I got it going, and they start keying in on me, he comes to me and tells me, I'm going to take some pressure off you.

I’ve got his back and he’s got mine. Especially in the fourth quarter, we have each other's back and will be locked in. That's something that we've been able to do, especially in this series.