Los Angeles Lakers might have a new dynamic duo waiting to explode, and they are not even starters. Aside the decorated backcourt of Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant, the Lakers are now looking for more production from new point guard Jeremy Lin and power forward Ed Davis, who showed how pick-and-run plays are run to perfection last Monday.
In the Lakers post-game presser following their 98-95 win over the Denver Nuggets in a preseason match in San Diego, head coach Byron Scott pointed out that he might give Lin and Davis more look after their solid performance in their Lakers debut.
“Those probably will be two of the first guys off the bench,” Scott told the press via Lakers.com. “With the way Ed played last night, (he) definitely played well. And Jeremy didn’t shoot the ball well – and we know he’s capable of making shots – but he did a good job of orchestrating the offense and making great passes.”
Davis, who averaged just 5.7 points in 15 minutes with the Memphis Grizzlies last year, made his presence felt on both ends of the floor as he scored 12 points and swatted four shots in 12 minutes of playing time.
The former North Carolina standout credited his new pick-and-roll partner in Lin for finding him under the basket, sensing that it could be a start of a very productive partnership.
“Jeremy found me on a lot of easy looks,” Davis said in the post-game interview. “I just had to lay the ball up. I caught it around the basket. But other than that, I’m happy that we got this win.”
Lin, who finished with 10 dimes despite scoring 1 point on 0-for-6 shooting, thinks Davis made half of the job for him because of his ability to easily catch the ball at his size and put the leather into the bucket.
“(Davis) just did a great job of keeping it simple, reading the defense and making easy plays,” Lin said. “He’d catch it on the elbow and be able to just pace himself, and because people are scared to leave some of the shooters, the lane kind of opened up for him."
With Nick Young sitting out for the next 6-8 weeks, Scott might lean on the Lin-Davis combo to give them that firepower off the bench. On Thursday, he will have a chance to see how much damage the two would inflict against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center.
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