Having Anthony Davis back in the lineup has helped the Los Angeles Lakers, but it hasn’t translated into as many wins as the team hoped.
Davis managed to avoid disaster when he was diagnosed with a stress injury in his foot that could’ve ended his 2022-23 season, but instead he returned to play after about six weeks on the shelf. While Davis has looked healthy on the court, it’s clear there’s some rust he needs to shake off as he has seen a dip in his scoring.
The star big man said he’s feeling healthy and that he’s just got to work through his shooting struggles, not using the injury as an excuse for his lack of rhythm, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“When he comes back kind of get kind of that less focusing on AD. DLo come in and he wants to make the game easier for both of us with his scoring, but we have guys to make plays that can open the floor up for myself. Every shot that I’ve taken so far since I’ve been back has felt good. I talked about it earlier today with one of the coaches that every shot feels good. It’s either short or long which I’ll take. It takes time, I think it’s my seventh game, eighth game, something like that. But it’s not an excuse, I still have to be productive for my team to win basketball games. I feel fine, just gotta make shots.”
Darvin Ham offered his thoughts on Davis’s shooting, attributing it to him finding a rhythm as well as the defenses teams are utilizing, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, I think that he definitely set the bar really, really high for himself with that stretch that he had. But at the end of the day, we had Portland tonight they’re playing zone. Even the full-court press at times. So you have different teams doing different defenses to disrupt him. If it’s one-on-one, then there’s a guy tilting, flooding from the baseline, another guy digging from the nail. He’s seeing a crowd every time he touches the ball, so he’s just trying to navigate that and play the right way. I think he would tell you probably he’s still getting into his rhythm and I would also add to that and say that teams are mixing up their pitches against him.”
Players like D’Angelo Russell are figuring out how to play alongside Davis, but at the end of the day, Davis is going to need to get himself out of the mud if the Lakers hope to compete for a Play-In Tournament berth.
Darvin Ham plans to continue starting Dennis Schroder and D’Angelo Russell together
Outside of Davis, the starting backcourt will also need to find ways to fit as Ham plans to continue starting Dennis Schroder and Russell together.
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