The Los Angeles Lakers continued their road trip by playing the Boston Celtics in the TD Garden on Friday. It was clear that Anthony Davis had a lot to prove after being dominated by Giannis Antetokounmpo on Wednesday night after getting an up close and personal tutorial on how MVPs play getting 47 points hung on him.
The Los Angeles Lakers started out strong in the first quarter leading 38-30 and building up a lead as much as 14 points. But after that, the vaunted (Allegedly!) Lakers’ defense got stomped on in a 130-108 blowout for their second straight loss on this road trip with the Detroit Pistons coming up on Sunday.
But here’s the good news…Kent Bazemore scored 5 points after going two weeks only scoring 8 points.
The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
It’s looked like Anthony Davis wanted back in the NBA “Top Five” conversation…in the first quarter.
Lake Show Life does not mince words and the staff will not start now. Giannis Antetokounmpo absolutely humiliated AD on Wednesday night. Davis went from easily being in the conversation of being a top-five player to just another All-NBA player by 10:30 EST. He looked soft and Giannis’ outburst was not AD’s finest hour.
Well…it seems that Anthony Davis heard the criticism and decided to reintroduce himself in the first quarter.
AD does it himself. pic.twitter.com/Ykxop7Foou
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 20, 2021
AD ran roughshod over the Boston Celtics in the first quarter dropping 15 points (6-9 shooting!) by attacking the basket much like what was just shown in the highlight. After being shut out from the charity stripe to the point that Frank Vogel complained to the NBA offices (Why? Well Lake Show Life does not know!) Davis got to the line four times early and knocked down three.
The problem is that a regular basketball game has four quarters and slowly but surely AD’s impact waned as the Boston Celtics gained momentum. After a dominant start, Davis finished with 31 points (12-21 shooting!), 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists.
Analytics at work here. Empty numbers do not stack up to a dominant influence to power a team to victory. Need an example? Keep reading and Lake Show Life will show you an example.
LeBron James was back in the lineup.
Anybody shocked that this would be in the good section of this article? The Los Angeles Lakers need him…BADLY! He made his presence felt almost immediately with the collaborative pass from Talen Horton-Tucker.
The Kid ➡️ The King pic.twitter.com/xYSyFiIGae
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 20, 2021
Check out Al Horford with the business decision under the rim. The offense looked a lot smoother with LeBron in the lineup. How smooth? When the Lakers were up 24-15 in the first quarter, they were shooting in the neighborhood of 80 percent from the field. No that is not a typo. He knocked down 4-5 shots for 8 quick points to supplement AD’s explosion.
His defensive activity with the steal and basket just before halftime allowed the Lakers to keep the lead at intermission. Well after halftime…well let’s just get to the stats, shall we?
LeBron James finished with 23 points (10-16 shooting!), 6 rebounds, 2 assists. Much more on LeBron coming up so stay tuned.
Carmelo Anthony shot well from the 3 point line!
The staff of Lake Show Life knows what you are thinking…So? He’s shot lights out from behind the arc all season! Well no, not on the road. Melo has been as bad shooting 3 pointers on the road as he has been in the Staples Center. However, in this game, he shot 3-4 from beyond the arc for 13 points.
Well…the game ended.
The Los Angeles Lakers got smoked like a pack of Kools in the second half getting outscored 70-44. Let that set in.