The Los Angeles Lakers have a golden opportunity to continue climbing up the Western Conference standings on Sunday night but botched it as they lost to a New York Knicks squad that was missing Jalen Brunson.
The loss put the Lakers in a three-way tie with the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans for ninth in the West. With how tightly clustered the teams are, Los Angeles can ill-afford to lose many games down the stretch of the 2022-23 season.
Anthony Davis struggled for the second game in a row, scoring 17 points on a subpar 8-of-18 shooting. Davis took responsibility for his poor performance and shouldered the blame for the loss to New York, but Dennis Schroder said the team as a whole has to be held accountable.
“It’s everybody. It’s everybody in this locker room,” Schroder said. “I can say the same thing when I came in and I had two quick turnovers. It’s on everybody. When we lose, we lose as a team. If we win, we win as a team. But AD, he tries to be great at all times and 90% of the time he’s been great for us. He missed free throws there, but it happens. We’re all humans. We can’t control if a shot goes in, but everything else, defensively he did a great job still, even in the second half on Julius Randle. So he can’t put it on himself.”
Schroder has a point as Davis did contribute in other areas, particularly the rebounding department where he registered 16 of them. Defensively, Davis was just as disruptive as ever, but L.A.’s offense is what really let them down on the night. Despite being granted so many open looks for 3, the Lakers managed to only convert 12 of their 36 attempts from distance.
Even without LeBron James on the floor, Los Angeles has managed to pull off some impressive wins so this recent defeat shouldn’t be considered the end of their season by any stretch. Davis and company have a chance to rectify things as they have a pivotal game Tuesday night against the Pelicans.
Austin Reaves focusing on moving forward after loss to Knicks
Each loss at this point of the year feels like a dagger to the Lakers’ playoff chances, but there is still time left to make a run up the standings. While the loss to the Knicks certainly stings, players like Austin Reaves are focused on moving on.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
