It has been an ugly stretch for the Los Angeles Lakers. They are 2-6 over their last eight games, including back-to-back losses by a combined 70 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat. Anthony Davis had two particularly difficult nights, combining for 20 points on 7-for-28 from the field.
Losses by 29 and 41 points in back-to-back games could be enough to make any team crumble. Even with a winning record still, the Lakers no longer look like a competitive team in a crowded Western Conference. That 12-10 record is barely enough to qualify for the Play-In Tournament.
But in especially difficult stretches, good teams have a way of banding together and not letting a collapse occur. And that is what Davis knows needs to happen for the Lakers and he believes it starts with himself, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“Just got to stay together. I mean obviously the team goes as I go and the last two games have been terrible shooting the basketball. I just got to be better individually to help the team. Guys are doing their parts and I’m not doing mine, which is tough for our team. I just have to play better individually on both ends. I hold myself to a higher standard and I haven’t been doing what I need to do, especially offensively, for our team. We just got to stay together, I mean there’s a ton of basketball left. But tonight was not our style of basketball. That was embarrassing. We just gotta get ready for Friday.”
From personal performance to team breakdowns and just about everything in between, this entire stretch has been frustrating for Davis. But he made sure, in that frustration, to take the blame away from coaches and focus it squarely on the players, most notably himself:
“I just hate losing. The way we’re losing, playing bad, getting blown out, I’m not playing well individually. It’s an accumulation of things. It’s frustrating. You want to play well. Obviously me playing well helps the team, helps our guys. When I’m not playing well, it’s kind of tough on our team. Defensively, there was a lot of breakdowns. It’s on us. It’s on us players, to be honest. We’re getting the schemes. The schemes are on point. But we just gotta go out and do it and execute them. But I just gotta step up for the team.”
The Lakers have plenty of work to do to go from this team to the team that they would like to be. They had a stretch earlier in the year where it looked like they had everything together, but that is looking more and more like a mirage given where they are now.
A difficult matchup against a red-hot Atlanta Hawks next could be a chance for the Lakers to show their togetherness and competitive spirit. Or it could be another blowout. It’s the perfect test for a team in desperate need of a turnaround.
Anthony Davis focused on team success
Prior to the last two games, Anthony Davis had been stellar so far this season. Through his first 20 games, he averaged 27.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game on 54.2% from the field and a respectable 35.7% from beyond the arc. His early performance has put him in the MVP conversation a quarter of the way through the regular season.
However, Davis’ name has been the subject of award conversation for the better part of a decade now. He has been a consistent Defensive Player of the Year contender and has had his name pop up in MVP conversations a few times. But through 12 full seasons, he has yet to actually take home one of the major awards.
He is a nine-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA and All-Defensive team selection and has won the NBA’s block crown three times. But Davis tries to not put his focus on the individual accolades, instead putting team success at the forefront of his motivation.
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