The Los Angeles Lakers are 4-2 through six games with some impressive wins against top Western Conference opponents. Anthony Davis has looked every bit the part of a superstar and the focal point for L.A. under new head coach JJ Redick. But there are still some early warning signs that the Lakers have some work to do.
It took L.A. three tries to win their first road game of the season, getting blown out by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the process. And when they finally did get that win, it was in underwhelming fashion against the Toronto Raptors. Already a rebuilding team, Toronto was without Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley and faced a 25-point halftime deficit.
But the Raptors were able to storm back in the second half and make things interesting, losing by only six points when the final buzzer rang. Despite finishing with 38 points and 11 rebounds on 14-for-20 from the field, Davis was deeply disappointed in the Lakers’ showing in the second half, as he explained in an interview with Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet:
“Unacceptable. Yeah, we won. And we’ll take the win for sure because it’s hard to win in this league, especially on the road, but we’re a long way from where we want to be. Having a big lead like that, giving them 31 points in the second, 38 in the third. If we’re going to do anything or have any aspirations of doing anything this season, we can’t allow that on the defensive end. We were able to get the win off of talent, but we weren’t able to do what we wanted to do on the defensive end and they got very comfortable coming out of halftime and made shots. And they were able to get back in the game.”
Davis went into specific details on what the Lakers could have done to avoid the Raptors comeback and what they need to focus on as they finish out a five-game road trip:
“Yeah, I mean we can’t let guys get comfortable. It’s the little details, offensive rebounding, transition a little bit. Our turnovers led to some easy buckets for them. We were able to prevail and get the win, but we’ll watch film. We’ve got a couple days before we go to Detroit, and we’re going to play a team that’s also hungry. We’ve got to clean up and get ready for them.”
One thing that separates good teams from great teams is their ability to put away the younger rebuilding teams. One of the league’s elite would have built up the 26-point lead and likely kept it there for the duration of the second half. The Lakers have the potential to be there given how quickly they stormed ahead, but need to find a way to not get complacent.
Davis has been stellar to start the year, and if he is demanding more from himself and his teammates, then that should spark a fire under the roster.
JJ Redick discusses Lakers’ slippage
The Lakers could have easily run away with Friday’s game against the Raptors. They led 43-19 after the first quarter and 76-51 at halftime. Had they kept their foot on the gas pedal, head coach JJ Redick could have breezed his way to his first ever road win.
Instead, the Lakers let the Raptors right back into the game with a 37-point third quarter and a repeat effort in the fourth.
The Lakers ultimately secured the win anyways, but it’s not how they would have liked. Redick spoke about what went right for L.A. in the first half and how the Raptors were able to climb back into it.
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