Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Lessons (FLAWS!) in loss to the Toronto Raptors
By Ronald Agers
Anthony Davis was a virtual no show in the first half for the Los Angeles Lakers!
Anthony Davis must have had one of those State Farm NBA imposters posing for him like Chris Paul because no one knows who that guy was in the first half. AD scored a career-low for scoring in the first half with one point. ONE! It’s the loneliest number.
Let’s go back to Thursday night on TNT where Charles Barkley talks about the importance of Anthony Davis to the team’s title chances at the 4:25 mark.
At first glance, it looked like Davis was uninterested and soft. In 35 minutes Davis scored 14 points on only seven shots. Most of this is scheme related. The ball pounding of LeBron does not help getting the ball into the best player’s hands.
But here’s what the Lake Show Life staff saw that will be a major issue going forward if not addressed. The starting lineup let him down. If the shooters can’t knock down shots, opponents will load up on Anthony Davis and bribe Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to shoot!
On a night when the starters, Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, shoot a combined 2-14 from the field, and JaVale McGee hitting just one, the Raptors used their scrambling rotation defense to take out Anthony Davis.
But Anthony Davis is going to have to assert himself in every game. This was an embarrassment. When colleagues that covered AD in New Orleans start sending “I told you so!” messages in the DMs about being soft against physical teams, that’s not a good thing. Four shots in the paint do little to give back a rebuttal argument.
The defense he saw in this game, he might want to get used to. Teams are going to be cool with giving up the outside shot while doubling Davis.
Let’s get to LeBron James. He wasn’t good either.