Film Study: How a hip flip from Anthony Davis saved the day vs. Tyrese Haliburton

Feb 3, 2023 - 4:53 PM

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The Los Angeles Lakers are now on a two-game winning streak following an overtime victory at Madison Square Garden vs. the New York Knicks, and following that up with a come-from-behind win against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.

The game overall left a lot to be desired as the Lakers’ process was subpar and uncoordinated, with some questionable rotation decisions and abysmal perimeter shooting. But a key bright spot was the play of big Anthony Davis, who — on the night he learned he would not be making the 2023 All-Star game — not only finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds and his usual role as paint clean-up man for the team, but also made a great block on a driving Tyrese Haliburton to keep the Lakers up by one point late.

The play exhibited Davis’ unique ability to guard on the perimeter for his size, and I want to focus on one specific ability that makes him such a defensively versatile player — his hips.

Take a look:

Davis exhibits unique movement qualities all over the court — and I’m sure you’ve heard about his massive growth spurt as a sophomore in high school which very likely played a role in his movement set and skillset — and his hips may be the most unique of all.

With the Lakers still searching for consistency and to climb up the playoff rankings, they’ll certainly need Davis to keep on showing off those unicorn abilities (and hopefully make a trade or two to help make it easier for both him and LeBron James).

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, is a youth basketball coach at the U12 level and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. Combining his background in biomechanics, movement science, and learning science - he consults in a variety of sports including basketball on movement mechanics and skill acquisition. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC) and analyzes the Lakers from a skills & medical perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.