MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Davis writhed in pain in the paint across from his team’s bench, everything feeling like it was about to fall apart again in Minnesota.
A season ago, Davis suffered a knee injury here that helped submarine the team’s season. Friday, it was his left ankle that twisted, the Lakers' recent momentum strained.
Yet after he stood up and fell back to the court, Davis got up again. He limped off the court on his own, pushed up and down on his foot and told a teammate that he was all right.
He stayed in the game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t.
In their most important game of the season to date, the Lakers and Davis bounced back, erasing a 13-point deficit and staving off any real concern in leading the Lakers to a 123-111 victory.
The win puts the Lakers at 39-38 and in seventh place with five games remaining in the regular season.
It’s the Lakers’ second consecutive win, and fifth in the last six, and their first time over .500 this season.
Davis finished with 38 points and 17 rebounds, attacking Minnesota even before 7-foot center Rudy Gobert left the game with a knee injury. With him in the locker room, the green light for Davis got even brighter. He scored on three straight possessions as the Lakers stifled any serious Minnesota comebacks.
The Lakers trailed by 10 points when Davis rolled his ankle, Minnesota’s shot-making and size being too much for the Lakers to contain for the first chunks of Friday night.
But as the Timberwolves cooled, the Lakers offense started to operate more effectively, the team getting to the basket, hitting open threes and getting to the free-throw line.
Defensively, Jarred Vanderbilt and Austin Reaves kept Anthony Edwards quiet, and Rui Hachimura logged key minutes defending Karl Anthony-Towns.
All five starters finished in double figures, with LeBron James finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Reaves adding 15, D’Angelo Russell contributing 12 points and 10 assists, Dennis Schroder scoring 11 and Malik Beasley providing nine points off the Lakers bench.
Davis punctuated things with a two-handed slam as Minnesota tried to get one last stop. He walked off the court to high-fives from his teammates as he went straight to the locker room to get a headstart on treatment.
