The Los Angeles Lakers’ defense did its job on Wednesday night, holding the Memphis Grizzlies to just 103 points on 42.7% shooting as Anthony Davis again set the tone with five blocked shots. But the Lakers’ offense was simply abysmal, only mustering up 93 points and Davis’ struggles on that end were apparent.
The Lakers’ star big man made just 4-of-14 shots from the field, finishing with just 14 points in the Game 2 loss in Memphis. With a chance to go up 2-0 on the road against a Grizzlies team without star point guard Ja Morant, the Lakers’ offense failed to get going and Davis was the main culprit.
After the game, Davis spoke on his rough shooting night, insisting that he simply missed shots that he would normally make, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I like all the shots I took, I just missed them. A lot of shots close to the rim that I normally make or go in. Flush it, get ready for Wednesday, or whatever day we play, Friday, Saturday.”
Davis attempted only one 3-pointer on the night and did most of his work from the mid-range in, so it makes sense that he’s not dwelling too much on his off-night shooting. On the contrary, he was proud of the fight the Lakers as a whole showed on the defensive end, giving them a chance to steal a win late:
“We’re gonna keep fighting no matter what. No matter what type of game we’re having offensively, defensively, individually, as a team, we always keep fighting. Like you said, six-point game with three minutes, we still had a chance to possibly win the game and that’s all you can ask for, fight. Obviously I have to be better with our group. Can’t have a night like tonight and expect us to win. But we’ll look at the film over the next couple days and be ready for Saturday and make some adjustments and try to get a win at home.”
That defensive intensity is what the Lakers lean their hats on and it kept them within striking distance late in a game in which they got little offensively aside from LeBron James and Rui Hachimura. Davis sets the tone on that end and if the team can just execute a little better and knock down some shots offensively, the Lakers have a great chance of turning things right back around in Game 3.
D’Angelo Russell echoes Anthony Davis’ mindset of forgetting poor Game 2 shooting night
The other Lakers starter who struggled mightily offensively was point guard D’Angelo Russell, who finished with just five points on 2-of-11 shooting and 1-of-5 from deep.
But like Davis, Russell liked the shots he took as well and believes he just missed them. Russell added that the mentality of the Lakers was simply to move on and get ready for Game 3.
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