Los Angeles Lakers: Can Anthony Davis really handle the pressure?

The pressure is mounting on Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a 1-0 hole losing to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. Anthony Davis had solid stats but disappeared in crunch time. Is this a trend? Lake Show Life asked a sports reporter that followed him for seven years. This might be an ongoing trend.

There are two major mysteries that will be major NBA stories leading up to the Los Angeles Lakers’ efforts to even the first-round series with the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday. Unfortunately, for Lakers fans, the mysteries had better get solved or the season could end next Monday with a Blazers sweep. Both are essential for this team to survive not only this series but going forward.

• What is the offensive philosophy of the Los Angeles Lakers?
• Can Anthony Davis really handle the pressure of being the number one option on the offensive end?
• Can he get a shot without help in crunch time!   

Forget what LeBron James said at the beginning of the season when it was a foregone conclusion that the offense should run through Davis. This is also the same guy that said he would play off the ball more and play in the post last year. That statement caused construction of a flawed roster when he changed course 20-25 games into the season ignoring Luke Walton from the sidelines.

This is different. Now this is about championship aspirations with championship expectations. Something Anthony Davis said he was cool with before the playoffs started.

This wouldn’t be as much of a discussion if Anthony Davis’ play wasn’t as inconsistent as the Lakers’ overall play. There have been games such as wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz where he physically dominated on both ends of the floor.

Then there have been three games (Houston, OKC and Indiana!) that easily rank 1-2-3 as the worst games of the season by a wide margin. These games along with even the Clippers win showed a glaring flaw with Anthony Davis and the Lakers offense…

Anthony Davis tends to disappear late in games.

Much like the games going back as far as the scrimmages, the Los Angeles Lakers were plagued in the opening playoff game with a slow start and subpar shooting. In the end, it cost them in a 100-93 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1.

Anthony Davis shooting 8-24 from the field to get 28 points is not going to get the Los Angeles Lakers out of the first round of the playoffs. Lake Show Life has been consistent in stating that Anthony Davis and LeBron James had to be dominant scorers for any chance for success.

This discussion was brought up by Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal on TNT’s Inside the NBA on Tuesday night.

In what is becoming a trend lately, Anthony Davis has not sustained a high level of play leading into the playoffs. Game one was yet another example of the inconsistencies AD has shown since arriving to the bubble about a month ago. In the second half, Davis scored only 7 points on three dunks. They were setups from LeBron and he blew two free throws late.

There is no denying the skill and talent of Anthony Davis. There’s not a big man in the NBA even close to his talent and skill. But does he have the mental toughness to take over and dominate when the Lakers have to get a basket late in the playoffs assuming they get there?

David Grubb is here to answer that question and shine the light on what the Lakers fans might see during the postseason from Anthony Davis. When it comes to bridging the gap of information from the “Big Easy”, David Grubb has been the guy for Lake Show Life. Everything he has stated on record has come to pass.

Plus he has the credentials.

In 2013, he joined the team at SportsNOLA.com as a contributor before working his way up to cover the New Orleans Pelicans.

David is currently a featured columnist for CrescentCitySports.com as well as The Bird Writes for SB Nation. He is a regular contributor to “The Bird Calls,” a weekly podcast covering the Pelicans.

He was a regular on the now-defunct Sports 1280 AM in New Orleans, he has also been a fill-in host for “The D-League” (Sports 1280 AM) and “Sport-a-facts” (WBOK) and is a regular guest on a number of sports talk shows in the New Orleans area.

Now his daily radio show called “Hard in the Paint” made history making him the first African American sports talk radio host in the state of Louisiana. His podcast with the same name is moving fast up the charts as a formidable show on numerous platforms.

In short, if there is anyone that would have insight on what Anthony Davis will do for the Los Angeles Lakers, David Grubb is the man.

Over the next several pages I asked David Grubb a few questions from our Lake Show Life readers about the struggles of Anthony Davis.