The Los Angeles Lakers continued their Grammy’s trip on the road in a test against the Philadelphia 76ers. Drama seemingly can’t leave the Lake Show be as LeBron James was a late scratch because of a sore knee.
Outside of Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers played listlessly in a way that the late NFL coach Dennis Green screamed in the past…
"“They are who they thought they were!”"
The Philadelphia 76ers completely controlled the game winning 105-87. The Lakers scored only 39 points in the second half and this could have been worse. However, Philly got sloppy in the final quarter to make things look decent.
The Los Angeles Lakers fall below .500 ALL TOGETHER NOW…again with a matchup against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. Maybe LeBron James will play but at this point…
Does it really matter?
The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
Anthony Davis…has so much…skills…for a big man!
AD’s analysis of how much he dominated this game can be summed up in the first 24 minutes. Davis smacked every Philly player that was put in front of him. People will look at the dunk on Embiid as his signature play of the first half, but the staff of Lake Show Life thought the fadeaway from behind the backboard on the left side baseline was what got this guy going.
A look at Anthony Davis knocking down a TOUGH step-back via our #PhantomCam
— NBA (@NBA) January 28, 2022
AD has 23 points (10-13 FGM) for the @Lakers on TNT pic.twitter.com/2WT1F1ZWzJ
Just look at the Anthony Davis effect for the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half…
- Anthony Davis: In 17 minutes, AD had a stat line of 23 points on 10-13 shooting, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks!
- The rest of the Lakers roster: In 24 minutes, the team scored 25 points on 10-30 shooting, 17 rebounds and 2 blocks!
Anthony Davis finished with 31 points (14-21 shooting!), 12 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals.
But he got no help from his teammates on the offensive end in the second half.
The Los Angeles Lakers put together a scheme that made Joel Embiid work for his points.
The Lakers were not going to shut Joel Embiid down. Right now no one can stop this dude. It’s not like the guy is putting up monster numbers most media outlets state as a cliché, but his type of dominance hasn’t been seen with this type of efficiency since Wilt Chamberlain. Some of the 40 point outbursts are done in less than 30 minutes.
The coaching staff made it a point to double him strong in the post and force him to make decisions that led to a few turnovers while making him work hard to get his points.
Eventually, Embiid started to rely on perimeter shots that weren’t falling as much. This was a major win for the Los Angeles Lakers going forward. If this can work against a Joel Embiid, it will work against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Deandre Ayton, Rudy Gobert and other athletic big men on contending teams.
Well, the game ended…
Sometimes, watching this Lakers team can hurt your feelings. Especially when there are things going on behind the scenes that are not right.