The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon and the seven-game first-round playoff series has now turned into a best of three that the Suns have homecourt advantage on.
The two teams are tied at two games apiece with both Game 5 and Game 7 being in Phoenix. Winning Game 4 would have been massive for the Lakers and essentially would have won the series then and there. Now, it is anyone’s series.
Those familiar with my stance on this series might be shocked by this statement. I claimed that the series was over after three games and that the Lakers were undoubtedly going to win the series.
The result is not the thing that is changing the thought process around this series, it is losing Anthony Davis in the game and potentially losing him for future games.
Simply put, the Los Angeles Lakers will lose this series if Anthony Davis cannot return at 100%.
Davis was already questionable heading into the game because of a left knee sprain. Davis played but was removed because of a sore left groin. He did not return to action. Davis is now day-to-day.
Groin injuries are nothing to scoff at and it could be something that really hampers Davis for the rest of this series. The Lakers better hope that is not the case because if so, the title defense this season is over. The Los Angeles Lakers are not winning this series without a healthy Anthony Davis.
Don’t believe me? Let’s break it down.
1. Anthony Davis is the reason why the Los Angeles Lakers won two games to begin with
Without Anthony Davis, you could make the case that the Los Angeles Lakers would have been swept in this series. That might seem like an exaggeration, but when we look at the roster and the results one thing is clear: when Davis is good the Lakers are good.
Just look at the results in the four games. Davis played very poorly in Game 1 and the Lakers lost by nine. If he had his normal showing the team probably would have won by double figures. Then in Games 2 and 3 he put together 30/10 games and led the Lakers to victory. He got hurt in Game 4 and that is when the wheels started to fall off.
There are multiple reasons for this. First is that Davis has such a matchup advantage against the Suns, naturally making him the most impactful player on the team. While Deandre Ayton has been great in this series, Davis has benefitted from this matchup.
The second reason why Davis is so important is that the role players have been inconsistent. Dennis Schroder has had one great game and that is it, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been bad and it is really hard to fully believe in the rest of the role players, at least offensively.
Finally, LeBron James is very obviously trying to take things easy and save his energy for late-game situations when it matters. That high ankle sprain is likely still taking some sort of toll on LeBron and with Davis he had the luxury of essentially taking a half off.
That luxury is not there and can a 36-year-old LeBron do what he did in his second Cleveland stint post-Kyrie? Probably not.
The Suns are a good basketball team and Davis is the Lakers’ most important weapon against this good basketball team. It does not help that things seem to be going in the right direction for Phoenix as well.
2. Chris Paul is trending in the right direction
Chris Paul’s shoulder injury has been a huge storyline of this series and Game 4 was the most impressive game for the veteran point guard in this series. While he was not the absolute best version of himself, he looked great and was a key component in the Suns’ victory.
Paul looked much better than he did in the previous three games in this series, scoring 18 points with nine assists and three steals. He was hitting his mid-range jumper as he normally does and he even had the confidence to attempt three threes.
While he did not make any of them, the fact that the shoulder is feeling good enough for him to be comfortable taking these shots is saying something.
Could the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Suns without Anthony Davis if Chris Paul was hurt or could barely play? Absolutely. Paul is the lifeblood of this team and while Devin Booker is the most talented, everything in Phoenix revolves around Paul. He is the sun of the Suns’ galaxy.
Paul looked good in Game 5 and he should only look better as the games go along. This is part of the reason why it was so critical for the Lakers to win this series as soon as possible. The more time they give Paul to recover the worse the outlook is for LA.
The narrative has flipped. The Lakers are now the team with a hurt star and the Suns are in a much more promising situation.
That happens in basketball, though, and it is why winning a championship is such a hard feat to accomplish. Hopefully, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t get eliminated because of injury.