Anthony Davis made his return to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night after a one-game absence due to plantar fasciitis. However, he shot just 5-of-14 from the field, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks as the Lakers fell to the L.A. Clippers 116-102 in the first meeting between these teams at the brand new Intuit Dome.
Things got rough for the Lakers in the second and third quarters, and they trailed by as many as 26 points in the second half. While they did continue to fight, they were never able to get things within single digits and Davis broke down what cost the Lakers on this night against their crosstown rivals.
“So many simple mistakes. No game plan discipline,” Davis said after the game. “Fouling James Harden a couple times and they got some offensive rebounds. Anytime we made a run, they made a run of their own. We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight either. Did like the fight but against teams like that, pretty good teams, we have a great stretch and then we have two or three mistakes in a row and they capitalize every time. Gotta play great basketball when you’re playing good teams like that.”
Good teams will always make other teams pay for their mistakes and that is exactly what the Clippers did. Untimely turnovers, rebounding issues and defensive breakdowns cost the Lakers and while Davis was happy with the effort they gave for the most part, he still feels the Lakers execution must be better.
“Not turn the ball over,” Davis noted of what they can do better. “Can’t control makes or misses but some nights we struggle to shoot the basketball and some nights the ball goes in for us. I think defensively we did a pretty good job, got back in the zone. I think in the third quarter they kind of came out prepared. Obviously they made some shots but kind of ran this action with Zu in the middle and Kawhi underneath the basket and put some shooters around and made some shots.
“I think just laying our hats on defense. Like I said, you can’t control makes or misses but you control your effort on defense and I think we have had some slippage defensively but for the most part the fight is there, the effort is there. We just gotta do a better job of getting stops, more stops in a row, especially against teams like this.”
The Lakers have moments and games when their defense is locked in, but they have been unable to consistently keep that going, especially against some of the better teams in the league. One good stretch they had against the Clippers came when they paired Davis with Jaxson Hayes and the former discussed why that worked.
“They were small, especially with Zu [Zubac] out,” Davis noted. “Even if he was in we were able to manipulate that with our two bigs and kind of punish them in the paint. Get stops defensively with our lineup. So, it was good, but it’s a game-by-game scenario.”
Every game is different, but the Lakers must figure out these lineups and rotations that work and stick with them in order to find the success they are looking for.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis credits Clippers’ Ivica Zubac for developing offensive game
One of the biggest reasons for the Clippers defeating the Lakers was center Ivica Zubac, who finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds. Afterwards, Anthony Davis credited the big man for how much he has developed his offensive game.
“He’s been working on his post-game. He’s got that jump hook,” Davis said. “He’s always been a good screener and roller, lob threat, offensive rebounder, great rim defender. He’s developed his post-game where they can throw it to him. He’s finishing with his right hook. He’s added that to his arsenal.”
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