Anthony Davis was delighted to be able to mark his Los Angeles Lakers home debut with a victory over the Utah Jazz.
The Lakers were at Staples Center for a second consecutive game but had technically played as the away team when they went down to dangerous rivals the Los Angeles Clippers on the first night of the new NBA season.
Davis led an improved display on Friday, moving to center at half-time to great effect, and revelled in the 95-86 win.
"For sure, we got the win," he said. "You couldn't ask for anything better - especially the first home game, great crowd, great atmosphere. It was great to win in front of our fans."
Davis finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and five blocks, with his defensive efforts particularly impressive.
He added: "We took it to them. We were the aggressors - especially on the defensive end. To be able to hold a team like that to 86 points..."
Discussing his deployment at the five, Davis said: "If it makes sense, then obviously I don't mind doing it. And it made sense.
Anthony Davis puts up 21 points and 5 blocks in his debut on the Lakers’ home floor. pic.twitter.com/3LcEox5F1Q
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 26, 2019
"But the coach is very smart - we're going to pick and choose when he wants me to play the five. It might not be all game. It was just the second half, or really just the third quarter.
"We were able to accomplish some great things out of it. Any time we can do that and it helps the team, I'm all for it."
LeBron James also highlighted the need for the Lakers to be strong defensively, while he suggested the Clippers' big win over the Golden State Warriors shed new light on a comparatively narrow opening defeat.
"That's who we are. That's our defensive staple," said James, who weighed in with 32 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and a steal. "We want to be that every single night, being able to hold teams to underneath their averages.
"We thought we did a poor job against the Clippers in the opener - they had 112 - and then they end up with 140-something [141 against the Warriors].
"We want to continue to get better and better with our defensive strategies and our gameplan and to just execute that."
