In what turned out to be an exciting and eventful start to the 2019-20 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers unfortunately fell short to the Los Angeles Clippers, 112-102.
The two Los Angeles teams did not disappoint as they took turns trading punches and scrapping on both ends of the floor. However, the Clippers were able to pull away in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Lakers, 27-17.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis, one of the new All-Star duos, had their fair share of highlight reel moments but only seemed to play effectively in spurts. While Davis finished with an impressive 25 points and 10 rebounds in his Lakers debut, it felt like he still could have had a bigger game given some of the missed connections between him and James.
Davis explained what it was like to share the floor with James and how they can improve going forward.
“For us, we’re both aggressive and so sometimes we kinda like miss each other. I missed him a couple of times and he missed me, so just trying to figure it out knowing that we’re going to draw double teams, knowing where everyone else is,” Davis explained.
“When you got two guys who are willing passers, it makes it a little bit easier, but we’re still learning. Like I said, it’s Game 1 of many, so we’re going to look at the film to see where we can get better at and then work on it in practice and be ready for our next game.”
James seemingly made it a point to try and get Davis going as he constantly fed him the ball at either the elbows or the post. The 26-year-old did most of his damage when he was able to catch the ball deep and simply shoot over his defender versus having to create something out on the perimeter.
There were several moments where Davis had the opportunity to swing the ball back outside and set up some of his teammates, but it appeared he was trying to punish the Clippers for single covering him in the halfcourt. James also did himself no favors as a couple of his five turnovers could be attributed to trying to feed Davis when the passing angle was not quite there.
Davis did bring up a good point in that it was only Game 1 of the regular season which means he and James will have plenty of time to get on the same page.
There should be some brighter spots when they take on the Utah Jazz in their home opener.