Anthony Davis dominates the opener as the Lakers' offense permeates him

The two friends and teammates on the U.S. Olympic basketball team that won the gold medal in Paris over the summer had a tense exchange Tuesday night in the heat of the moment, words from Lakers All-Star Anthony Davis and Minnesota All-Star Anthony Edwards, meanwhile, said the drama had begun.

Davis had just scored against Edwards and was fouled early in the third quarter when they were face-to-face and neither backed down.

When Davis was asked about that exchange, he laughed.

“When he wanted to punch me in the face,” Davis said, smiling.

Did he tell Davis?

“No, but that’s exactly what he wanted to do,” Davis said.

Davis later said the two were very good friends and hugged after the game.

It's just that Davis carried most of the impact on Tuesday night, using his play to shut out the Timberwolves and give the Lakers a win in their regular-season opener at Crypto.com Arena.

During the game, LeBron James and Bronny James made NBA history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together, but Davis was the one who threw the decisive shots. He finished the game with 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

The run-in with Edwards stood out because Davis isn't known for talking a lot of nonsense. Davis delivered an outstanding third quarter with 13 points and five rebounds.

Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) reacts after an official negated his ejection against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“No, that’s my guy,” Davis said of Edwards. “I got the and-one and just his competitive nature, which he hates… Actually, it goes back to the Olympics. We talked about it and he said we were the team he hated the most because we wouldn't let him play. We forced him to pass the ball and I got the and-one on him and I yelled at him and it was just brotherly love. That's my type. We call ourselves “twins”. Same name. Stuff like that. So it was nothing serious.”

Davis ended the Timberwolves' dismantling in the fourth quarter as the Lakers tried to keep Minnesota at bay.

He came back into the game with 7:09 left in the fourth period as the Lakers' lead shrank from 19 points to eight points.

Davis immediately went to work, grabbing a rebound from Minnesota's Rudy Gobert.

Davis made just one of two free throws after being fouled, but then he showed off his performance on defense on the next play, blocking a three-point attempt by Donte DiVincenzo.

That began a stretch in which Davis scored 11 of the Lakers' next 15 points and set up two more points with a beautiful pass to Rui Hachimura.

Davis had 11 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in the fourth quarter.

“He’s the go-to guy for us on both offense and defense,” said LeBron James. “We have to make sure we continue to give him the ball. I think the coaching staff and JJ (Redick) do a great job of always putting him in positions where he can be the receiver on offense. And when AD gets it going, our job as ballhandlers is to continue to feed him, find him and AD do what AD does.”

When Redick took over as head coach of the Lakers, he talked to Davis about being the focal point of the offense.

This was new for Davis, as James was the center of attention during his first five years with the Lakers.

Now it's Davis.

He said the Lakers were focused on getting him the ball at the top of the key so he could either make a play or direct the offense. He noted that he should also act as a focal point for defensive pressure.

“Obviously it’s going to grow and we’re going to incorporate more things into it,” Davis said after his first night running the Redick offense. “But I think this is a good first step to see how he wants me to play and how he wants me to be the linchpin and kind of orchestrate the offense.”