Now in the final week of the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers are officially locked in to the Play-In Tournament and will have to fight their way into the playoffs. In an extremely competitive Western Conference, the Lakers simply weren’t able to get into the top six despite the best efforts of Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
But with everything so close, it is normal for many to look back at games earlier in the season that the Lakers could have, and arguably should have won against lesser teams. Losses to teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies were unacceptable at the time and look even worse now as the Lakers could’ve been in a much better position.
Even James admits that he sometimes thinks about those early season losses as the Lakers were figuring things out, but he chooses to focus on the present as there’s nothing that can be done to change the past.
“I mean, of course,” LeBron responded when asked if he thinks about early season losses. “But I mean, that doesn’t change anything because it is what it is today. So you focus on the present and forget about the past and how we can get better in the future. But to answer your question, of course, but it doesn’t change anything.”
At times like this, it is normal to look back at earlier parts of the season. Head coach Darvin Ham hadn’t settled on lineups and rotations while minor injuries to rotation players led to constant shuffling of players and their roles. These last two games without Davis are also going to discussed heavily, but as LeBron said, there is nothing that can be done to change what happened.
All the Lakers can do now is get healthy and focus on getting victories in their final two games of the season. If they can take down the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans, they still have a chance to be in a better position. At worst, they can build up some momentum when the Play-In Tournament begins.
LeBron James: It’s ‘impossible’ for Lakers to make up for Anthony Davis being out
There is no doubt that Anthony Davis has been the Lakers’ most important player this season. Not only has he dominated offensively, but he is the anchor of the team’s defense and the communicator to make sure everyone is on the same page on that end of the floor.
When he is out, the team loses one of the best rebounders and rim protectors in the NBA, and LeBron James admitted that it is basically impossible for the Lakers to make up for him being out.
“It’s hard for us to make up, especially having a guy like AD not playing. It’s pretty much impossible to make up for what he provides for our ballclub both offensively and defensively.”
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