Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers returned to action after five days off to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis on Friday night.
While it was evident that L.A. needed a break after their recent road trip, rust appeared to play a factor in their return. Turnovers have not been an issue for the Lakers up to this point of the season, but they gave it away 22 times in Minnesota, which obviously is not a recipe for success.
Despite that, the purple and gold somehow gave themselves a chance to win as they kept it close throughout. Ultimately, head coach JJ Redick’s offense simply was not knocking down its open looks, shooting a miserable 38.4% from the field and 28.6% from distance. After a hot start to the season offensively, the Lakers have really struggled in recent weeks on that end.
Davis does not blame the type of shots the Lakers are taking but discussed what it will take to get out of this slump as a team, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Just gotta score. We’re getting good looks but we haven’t been shooting the ball from 3 well. Just gotta make shots. We’re getting great looks. We’re generating open 3s, open looks for our guys. We just gotta be confident enough to make them.”
Davis is confident that is the Lakers keep getting the same open looks, shots will start to fall:
“You can’t control makes or misses. We just gotta continue to create those looks. If we continue to create those looks, eventually the shots have to fall, especially if guys to continue to put in the work and shoot the ball with confidence.”
This is where LeBron James’ absence hurts as losing a ball-handler and someone who orchestrates offense has made it tough to score. While James’ turnovers have been an issue as of late, his presence is irreplaceable and perhaps that played a role in Friday’s mishaps.
Things are not going to get easier to close out this year with more quality teams on the horizon. If the Lakers want to be a playoff team, they must clean up their decision-making and demonstrate an ability to handle opposing team’s physicality.
Anthony Davis not concerned about turnovers becoming long-term issue for Lakers
With this current iteration of this Lakers team, there is little to no room for error. Friday was a step in the right direction defensively, but the 22 turnovers ultimately did them in.
The Lakers have been good at taking care of the ball overall, which is why Anthony Davis is not concerned about turnovers in the loss to Minnesota.
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