Bench Austin Reaves and 2 other changes Lakers must make vs Warriors

3. Stop running Anthony Davis to the ground

Anthony Davis was the best player on the court in Game 1 and was the reason that the Lakers won. However, toward the end of that game, he was noticeably running out of gas and what not offering much of anything on the offensive end.

Davis had the biggest block of the game on Stephen Curry but if that game would have went to overtime the Lakers would have been toast as Davis was completely out of gas. He played 44 minutes in that game and played every minute of the second half.

Then Davis comes into Game 2 and he stinks up the place. Granted, Davis has shown a tendency to do this during the postseason, but the fact that Davis played 44 minutes and only had one day off might correlate to his bad showing in Game 2.

The Lakers are overworking Anthony Davis.

Yes, in the playoffs the best players need to be able to play the most minutes but you also have to be smart in how you are staggering their minutes. Davis is someone who is extremely injury prone and has not been able to put together an extended run of games played in quite some time.

Yet still, Ham played him every single minute of the second half in Game 1 and then played him in 33 of 36 minutes in the first three quarters in Game 2. That means that Davis played 57 of 60 total minutes across four quarters for the Lakers.

If this series goes seven games the Lakers are going to be screwed. And if they get pats the Warriors then Davis is going to have absolutely nothing left.

Yes, it would be silly for Ham to manage Davis’ workload for a future series that is not even guaranteed. But part of the art of being a head coach is making sure your best players are at their best in the most important spots. Davis has not been able to as the team has been running him to the ground.

Luckily, he got some rest in the fourth quarter of Game 2 but if he comes out and plays 45 minutes in Game 3 that defeats the purpose.