It’s one thing to get dragged behind the woodshed. It’s another to ball out, as these Nuggets did Sunday, to leave everything out there, to clean up old mistakes, to get stops, to force turnovers, to get to the line, to surpass the Lakers’ intensity … … and then have Anthony Davis plunge a dagger in between your shoulder blades.

Keeler: Anthony Davis just ripped out the Nuggets’ hearts. And it feels like basketball gods have finally turned their backs on Michael Malone. — The Denver Post

Davis said shots like his game winner in Game 2 of the WCF were one of the reasons he wanted to leave New Orleans for the Lakers.

Anthony Davis On His Buzzer Beater: ‘I Want The Big Time Plays’ — UPROXX

he Los Angeles Lakers trailed 103-102 with 2.1 seconds to play in Game 2 of their Western Conference Finals matchup with the Nuggets after having seen Denver erase a 16-point deficit in the second half — as has become a regular occurrence for Denver this postseason.

On their final inbounds play, L.A. put their two superstars into the action and made Denver make a quick and difficult decision. The result was Mason Plumlee going to LeBron James, who was already being faceguarded by Jerami Grant, leaving Davis with an open catch and window to shoot a deep three at the buzzer in front of a hard closeout from the side by Nikola Jokic. Davis, who was 1-for-3 on threes to that point in the game, buried the shot and gave L.A. a 105-103 win (and a 2-0 series lead).

AD WINS IT AT THE BUZZER.

OH MY. pic.twitter.com/Um2uWqjmZR

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 21, 2020

After the game, Davis explained that the opportunity to take that shot in that moment was the driving factor in why he wanted to go to the Lakers when he issued his trade request from New Orleans, telling Allie LaForce he “wants the big time plays” and elaborating to reporters later that he knew this was the stage and the championship chase L.A. would afford him.

“I want those shots. I want the big-time plays.”

AD discusses his game-winning shot with @ALaForce after Game 2. pic.twitter.com/ndcX3flI4M

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) September 21, 2020

Lakers’ Anthony Davis on Game 2 winner over Nuggets: “It’s for sure the biggest shot of my career. When I left (New Orleans) I just wanted to compete for a championship. I know moments like this come with it. Especially being in LA, the biggest market in basketball.” pic.twitter.com/5FMsig4n9u

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 21, 2020

Given that the biggest remaining question Davis faced as a player was whether he could take and make these kinds of shots on a championship caliber team, taking the lead in a situation when LeBron James didn’t have it down the stretch, he answered that with an exclamation point on Sunday. Davis was the only Laker to score in the final five minutes of the game, including both of his three-pointers on the night.

It was a sensational performance, further cementing his position as not just one of the league’s most elite talents but as a player capable of stepping up on the big stage and knocking down a critical shot. As the Lakers move forward, that ability, when the focus shifts from defenses to slowing down LeBron James, will be critical in L.A.’s ability to take the Larry O’Brien trophy home from Disney to Los Angeles.

If anything is going to take the wind out of the sails of the never-quit Nuggets, you’d think this could be it. Anthony Davis’ arcing 3-pointer at the buzzer not only gave the Lakers a 105-103 victory in Game 2 of Sunday’s Western Conference Finals series, but it control-shift-deleted all of Denver’s painstaking work to…

Could Anthony Davis’ game-winner knock the wind out the never-say-die Denver Nuggets? — Press Telegram