The biggest positive for the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 against the Memphis Grizzlies was the performance of big man Anthony Davis. The Lakers’ star hit 14-of-23 shots to finish with 31 points, 19 rebounds and two blocks, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough as the Lakers dropped their first closeout opportunity in Memphis 116-99.
The Lakers still own a 3-2 series advantage and head home for what is basically a must-win Game 6 and that means Davis, LeBron James and the rest of the team have to be completely locked in and ready to give everything they have.
And Davis is fully ready to do just that, saying after the Game 5 loss that he has been preparing all year long to be able to play all 48 minutes if needed in this game, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I’ll play 48. This is what you kinda prepare the entire season for. Starting off low minutes and kinda just working your way up through the course of the season to be able to play extended minutes in the playoffs to get victories. If coach needs me to play 42, 45, 48 whatever minutes to get the job done I’ll be ready to do so.”
The Lakers very well may need that, or close to it as Davis remains the team’s best option at controlling the paint and the glass. The only issue for Davis has been consistency as he has yet to put together consecutive good performances this series.
Things got out of hand for the Lakers late in the third quarter, but Davis and other Lakers starters remained in the game in the fourth, which some questioned. But Davis believes it was a matter of seeing if the Lakers could pull off a run:
“I think the idea there was just see if we could make a run and cut the lead down. You never know what can happen. I think Denver it was a situation where they were down 12 and went on a run and went to overtime or something like that. So you kinda just wanna make a stretch of plays where you can see if you can make a run and see what happens from there. That was really it.”
Both the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat have come through with improbable comebacks this postseason and head coach Darvin Ham owed it to his team to at least see if they could make a similar run. Nonetheless, all attention now turns to Friday’s Game 6 and the Lakers will need Davis to be at his dominant best if they plan on ending this series at home.
LeBron James vows to be better for Lakers in Game 6
Another Lakers player who will need to be at his best on Friday night is James, who had a disappointing showing in Memphis in Game 5. But the Lakers superstar knows this and vowed to be much better back at home.
LeBron aptly described his poor performance in Game 5 before declaring “I will be better” in Game 6. James added that taking care of the ball and clearing the defensive glass will be crucial to the team’s success.
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