The Los Angeles Lakers sit toward the bottom of the league in terms of rebounding. They rank 22nd in rebounds per game and rebounds allowed per game. This is despite the fact that Anthony Davis is one of the most dominant paint presences in the league, but outside of him, L.A. does not have much by way of elite rebounding. And it most recently showed against the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns are one of the most perimeter-heavy teams in the NBA, with Jusuf Nurkic serving as their primary center and rebounding threat. And yet, the Suns were able to get whatever they wanted on the glass with the Lakers on Sunday afternoon. They won the rebounding battle 51-34 in a 10-point Phoenix victory. And it led to reactions from multiple Lakers about the problem.
Davis, for one, knows it can’t be all on him to hold down the Lakers’ rebounding. At a certain point, the perimeter players have to do a better job of crashing and fighting for boards.
“I’m trying to do my job of pushing Nurkic out and the ball has a long bounce or goes over my head and obviously he has positioning on the outside,” Davis said. “But I think our guards and forwards have to come back and get those rebounds for us.
“But yeah, some were on me that were in the paint and I got to do a better job of. He’s a big body so it’s tough to defensive rebounds just one-on-one. And some other guys had some but we just got to do a better job of that, which we have. But tonight they got it and a couple of them were kickout 3s, which kind of hurt us. But he’s a big body and that’s his role on the team to go out and rebound and get them extra possessions and they did a good job of that tonight.”
Davis also discussed the team’s lackluster start that saw the Suns take the first quarter 45-28. He gave his thoughts on what the Lakers did poorly in the first quarter.
“I don’t think so. I think we missed shots early on and had some transition things,” Davis said. “Just some miscommunication on the defense. There were a couple plays Nurkic got loose on slips to the basket for dunks, some and-ones where we fouled a little bit early and they got to the line. I don’t think it was an energy thing, it’s probably more miscommunication than anything.”
Rebounding figured to be an issue for the Lakers given the way their roster is constructed, but it wasn’t imagined that they would be among the worst teams in the league at the category. At this point in the season, it’s not so much about fixing it as it is not allowing the issue to plague them in other facets of the game.
Anthony Davis makes history with LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell
With their performance on Sunday, the trio of LeBron James, Davis and D’Angelo Russell set a Lakers franchise record by being the first trio to each score 20 or more points in five consecutive games.
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