Lakers News: Rui Hachimura Discusses Big Offensive Rebound Vs. Kings
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Anthony Davis had a chance to ice the Los Angeles Lakers victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday evening. He went to the line up two with 12 seconds remaining. But he missed both free throws, which could have given the Kings a chance to tie or take the lead, until Rui Hachimura secured a big offensive rebound and tipped it out to Austin Reaves, who made both of his free throws to secure the win.
It was a massive play for Hachimura, who got the rebound despite the Kings having their biggest possible lineup in the game. They had Domantas Sabonis, Trey Lyles, Alex Len and Keegan Murray all on the floor at the same time, but it was Hachimura who came down with control of it.
The Lakers forward spoke about how he was able to do that, saying it’s a strategy he’s employed all year to get rebounds off of free throws, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I saw the subbed in Alex Len so they knew it was gonna be a big rebound play. There were three big men under there so I knew the other guy next to me was gonna go to AD. So I knew if I pushed him a little bit I could kind of get a good position and I could tap it out. I’ve been doing that the whole season literally, you guys have seen it. But that was much-needed. I kind of felt bad I missed the last 3 in the corner so I was like I gotta get back something for the team. It was a good win."
The Lakers have often gone to Hachimura as a backup four or even a backup five in some moments this season, and this strategy could be why. It seems that the Lakers forward has an instinct and a comfortability playing bigger than he is and being successful at it.
His rebound iced the third straight win and the fourth win in five games for L.A., and he did it against a towering Kings lineup specifically geared to get one single rebound.
Anthony Davis’ wife says Rui Hachimura saved him
Anthony Davis had a quieter scoring night in the Lakers' most recent win against the Kings, but still did his part to help the team win.
Davis' biggest contributions came on the defensive end, though he was put in a position to seal the game after getting fouled on a jumper in the final minutes. Davis ended up missing both free throws, though Rui Hachimura saved the day by batting out the second miss to Reaves who subsequently drained his pair of free throw tries.
After the game, Davis spoke discussed his missed free throws and didn't seem discouraged by the results, although he appreciated Hachimura picking him up.
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