The Los Angeles Lakers went into Philadelphia on Monday night hoping to make a statement, but instead put out their worst performance of the season, losing by 44 points to the Philadelphia 76ers. It was an embarrassment and one that Anthony Davis and LeBron James would undoubtedly like to forget.
The Lakers fell down early and while they kept things within striking distance early in the second half, things eventually spiraled downhill, particularly in the fourth quarter.
As far as what went wrong, Davis believes the Lakers separated instead of coming together when things got tough, and need to just flush this performance from their memory, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I feel like we just wasn’t together. A lot of quick shots. No-pass shots, one-pass shots. Then they started making a lot of shots and now when the lead kind of opens up a little bit to 15-20, 25, I feel like we all tried to be the hero to make the team come back instead of just sticking with it. I think that’s what kind of happened tonight. They just got to the line, made shots and for us, turnovers, quick shots. But it’s one of those games where you just kind of flush it.”
Davis credited the 76ers for their shot-making ability as they knocked down 22 3-pointers on the night, many of which came on wide open looks. But the Lakers big man again noted that times like that are when the team needs to come together, but instead they did the opposite:
“But it kind of gets deflating and then that’s when instead of coming together, I felt like tonight we kind of separated a little bit. Like I said, it turns into no-pass shots, one-pass shots and defensively we kind of had some breakdowns, leaving guys open for 3s and things like that. We weren’t rebounded, (were) fouling, uncharacteristic things for us. So that’s why I said to just flush it and get ready to line it up with Detroit on Wednesday.”
Some might feel like the Lakers should do the opposite and really focus on just how bad this game was, and use it as motivation. But with a back-to-back on the horizon, Davis believes it’s best to move on and flush this performance down the drain after their film session:
“Yeah, I mean, we’ll watch film tomorrow. And that’s an opportunity for us to talk about it and look at it and say this is what we can’t have. But you have to quickly flush it because we have another one on Wednesday. So we can’t harp on it too long. It’s good to watch the film and kind of see where we can get better at on both ends, but then you got to get ready for games on Wednesday and Thursday. So we got to look at it, embrace it, own it, guys don’t take it personal for whatever is said in the film session, and then move on from it.”
There should be no extra motivation needed coming off an embarrassing performance like that and even though the Lakers have struggled at times, it has never gotten that bad so this feels like more of an anomaly than the norm.
Nonetheless, the Lakers need to quickly right the ship since, as Davis pointed out, there are three more games coming this week and they have no time to harp on this one.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves believes Anthony Davis affects the game more than people realize
Davis had an average game at best against the 76ers, but he has often come under scrutiny for his up-and-down performances this season. But Austin Reaves believes this is only because most people don’t recognize just how much he affects the game.
Reaves recently spoke on this, saying that people often go after Davis following a bad offensive night, but he believes the Lakers big man impacts the game far more than people give him credit for.
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