Los Angeles Lakers Smother Pistons With 20 Blocks

The Los Angeles Lakers nullified the Detroit Pistons with an unusual number of blocks – 20 – on Sunday night. 

According to ESPN, it had been nearly 20 years since an NBA team registered 20 blocks in a game. That’s what the Lakers did during their 106 – 99 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Something like this was in the mail, considering how the Lakers lead the league in blocks, with 7.1 per game. Anthony Davis topped that all by himself against the Pistons, with 8 blocks. 

JaVale McGee blocked six times, while Dwight Howard put up five. It was a season high number of blocks for Davis, McGee and Howard.

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“I mean, I think it’s just an unbelievable feat. A remarkable feat. Dwight, JaVale and AD, they just make it easy on us,” LeBron James said. 

“To know that you have that safety net behind you … it’s a heck of a luxury.”

“Obviously it was a huge factor in the game,” Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. 

“Our three big guys just played exceptional basketball. I think we as a group were not happy with giving up 68 points in the paint against the Pelicans. That was sort of the theme of our film session yesterday, and those guys took a lot of pride in protecting our rim tonight. Twenty blocks, that’s pretty special. Those guys did a great job.”

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Anthony Davis and JaVale McGee had over 6 shots blocked each. They are only the third pair to do so since Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier for the Mavericks in 2005.

“I enjoy it because it gives our team a stop and allows us to get another possession in transition so anytime I’m able to block a shot, I think it kind of uplifts our team,” Davis said.

“Not just me, but anyone. I think our bench gets hyped when one of our teammates do something special. And then we have fun with it, hence Dwight doing a finger wag.”