The Los Angeles Lakers looked like they had a bit of rhythm going to potentially fix their ongoing issues. Wins against the Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings don’t feel that way usually, but they needed something after falling below .500.
But a loss to the L.A. Clippers, one in which the Lakers had every opportunity to win, put them right back to square one. Carmelo Anthony, who was one of the Lakers’ top performers in the loss, felt that way as well. And while the perpetual conversation surrounding this team is the championship aspirations, Anthony took a different approach.
Anthony did not want to look ahead any farther than their next game, a home game on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics, when asked by Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Bresnahan what L.A. can do to get back on track:
“Get a win Tuesday. It’s that simple. I don’t want to look too far ahead, but at this point, when you’re trying to get wins and win on your home court, trying to win basketball games, you just got to get the next one.
“I mean, tonight [the Clippers] won, but we kind of let this game slip. They hit some shots and made some plays down the stretch,” Anthony said of the loss. “The mindset is get Tuesday, that’s the most important thing right now.”
The Lakers have another long break between games after last playing on Friday night. Hopefully they can use the time to figure out an adjustment that actually nets them a quality win. Nearly 30% of the way through the regular season and they sit at .500 with very few wins against high-quality opponents.
The Celtics on Tuesday provides them with a chance to make a statement on a big stage. Anthony’s approach is to not look beyond the next game. Perhaps taking a “one game at a time” stance will allow this team to focus on getting wins now and not a potential championship run down the road.
Anthony Davis: Lakers couldn’t get over the hump vs. Clippers
Both Anthony and star big man Anthony Davis had a similar sentiment regarding the Lakers loss to the Clippers, in that they had every opportunity to win. Davis went a step further in acknowledging why they were unable to get the win. “I mean we stayed in it until the fourth quarter. We had plenty of chances to take the lead and they made some big shots,” Davis said.
“We come down, I think we were down one, I think. Malik [Monk] just made a three coming down on a fast break left wing and then missing one that goes over the backboard and goes out of bounds. Russ with the offensive foul, that was a dunk for me right there. It’s just little things that just didn’t go our way. They came down and made some tough shots – Luke Kennard, mainly. We had our chances. We just tried to keep fighting and get over the hump and we weren’t able to get over the hump tonight.”
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