Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Lessons from loss to Los Angeles Clippers

Anthony Davis played okay, he just needs one small adjustment.

Davis had a double-double scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds (3 offensive). He also got people involved with 5 assists and blocked two shots.

Looking at the box score, you would think that Davis dominated in this game. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here’s the rub. Davis had 25 points at the end of the 3rd quarter, which means he didn’t scratch in crunch time.

Davis did not do enough to command a double team from the Clippers in this game. Sure he scored effectively, but the Clippers could live with the jumpers he kept throwing up.

Here’s what Davis needs to do going forward. Start getting position a couple of steps deeper to get closer to the basket. Many times throughout the game, Davis would receive the ball 12-15 feet from the basket and it gave the Clippers time to rotate to the basket and make things difficult for him.

In the first half, AD was aggressive and was in the paint. But as the game wore on, Davis found himself in this position too many times.

Even though Davis scores the basket, notice where Davis receives the ball. He’s almost at the 3 point line before he faces up Patrick Patterson and takes him to the basket to score.

As the game wore on, Davis started to depend on jump shots instead of making moves like the one above. The Clippers were getting bailed out as the game wore on. Davis was so far out on the perimeter, the Clippers were never going to double him.

In the post, he has to be doubled. When he is the paint and aggressive, nobody can stop him.

Let’s talk about a player than broke a Lakers record.