Anthony Davis Received IV (Flu) Fluids at Half-time; Ended with a Game-high 25 Points against the Nuggets

Published 12/04/2019, 3:44 AM EST

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Anthony Davis scored a game-high 25 points on a night when he was suffering from flu. After going scoreless in the first half, Davis ended the game with 25 points, 10 rebounds and an assist.

“I was just trying to make the right plays,” Davis was heard saying after the match in a video obtained from Spectrum Sportsnet. “I was not trying to force anything. I think the shots that I had were good shots. I was overthinking a little bit, not because of the illness, but because of the way they were playing me. (I just) tried to be aggressive in the second two quarters. I was just trying to get my team going.”

Teams travelling to Denver often find it difficult as they have to adjust to the conditions in the higher altitude region. Taking this into perspective, Davis’ performance on Tuesday becomes even more praiseworthy.

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“The illness didn’t really play a big part,” he said. “I thought it would, especially playing at a different altitude. It’s a good thing because we have another one tomorrow in Utah in the same type of conditions.”

Davis required intravenous fluids at halftime to counter his illness. Lakers coach Frank Vogel said that he has not been the fittest for the last couple of days, and praised him for the performance through illness.

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“Just felt lousy the last two days,” Vogel said of Anthony Davis. “He comes in and has a … Defensive Player of the Year type of performance. He’s guarding their two best players, Jokic, single coverage, everybody’s staying home and Jamal Murray taking him to the basket and he’s making defensive play after defensive play.

“And he was outstanding. For him to play through illness and have that kind of performance was something special.”

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Fellow teammate LeBron James, who had 25 points and 9 assists, said it was not the first time that Davis was playing through injury.

“He’s been doing it all year,” James said. “Playing through injuries, playing through illness like he did tonight. [He’s the] Defensive Player of the Year, and he showed tonight once again playing one-on-one versus ‘Joker’ in the post. When there were switches, going on with Jamal Murray, playing one-on-one versus a small. Got stop after stop after stop. Just a monster game for him.”

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Written by:

Saketh Kandadai

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