Darvin Ham says Lakers did not plan to rest Anthony Davis in fourth quarter vs. Spurs

The Lakers took advantage of their situation on Friday to get Anthony Davis some unexpected rest in the fourth quarter vs. the Spurs.

In their previous meetings with the Spurs this season, the Lakers opted to play just one of LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the two contests. The result was a cagey win in the first outing and a decisive loss in the second game.

This time around, despite being on the second night of a back-to-back, the Lakers played both Davis and LeBron, but they approached it a bit differently. LeBron sat out on Thursday against the Warriors and while AD did play both games, he did not have to play the full game.

With the Lakers comfortably in control in the fourth quarter, Davis did not take the court in the final frame, allowing him to play fewer than 30 minutes in the win.

Speaking postgame, head coach Darvin Ham revealed that sitting AD was not a plan coming into the night.

“We felt we had a pretty good grip on the game,” Ham said. “We made a surge with him on the sideline and we were just hoping, had our fingers crossed, that we could continue to put points on the board and get stops so we wouldn’t have to drag him back out there. I think it was great for him to be able to sit over there knowing the next stretch of games we have coming up.”

Davis checked out of the game after the third quarter with the Lakers up 97-91. By going on an extended 19-4 run in the opening minutes of the game, they opened up a 116-98 advantage by the midway point of the quarter.

Given that luxury, the Lakers made the gamble they wouldn’t need AD, which they didn’t. The final score made the game look quite a bit closer than it ultimately ended up being as the Lakers were in control the entire final period.

Giving AD an unexpected quarter of rest is big considering the upcoming schedule. For one, a nearly game against Phoenix on Sunday is going to be critical in their push to get out of the play-in race with the SUns positioned above them. That will be followed by games against the Clippers and Nuggets in two of the next three games.

It’s a huge, huge stretch for the Lakers, so buying some added rest in any way they can is big. It was a gamble by Ham that paid off and, hopefully, helps lead to important wins in the upcoming week.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.