The Lakers have given up atleast 124 points in four of their past five losses
The abilities of Anthony Davis have surely been missed over his 12 game absence. The Lakers have struggled going 6-6 during that span but the defense has taken a serious tumble.
The Lakers have scored atleast 110 points in 10 of the last 12 games thanks to the help of LeBron James and company, but even for today’s NBA standards going .500 during that span is inexcusable. The Lakers are fighting to get into the postseason and there’s no question Davis needs to be healthy for the Lakers to have any chance.
While signs slowly point towards Davis coming back from his injury sooner rather than later, it still doesn’t stop Davis from being a leader of the team and trying to hold the Lakers accountable (via Lakers Daily).
“I think our main [struggle] is defensively,” said Davis. “We took a huge dip defensively. I think maybe three games in a row we gave up like 130 which is not us. It’s not the team we’ve been. Even when I was in the lineup we took some dips, but that’s my biggest thing right now.”
Davis not being available as the last line of defense doesn’t help, but the Lakers still need to step it up.
“Obviously being the anchor of the defense and guys thinking like, ‘Okay, AD in on the back line,’ which allows us to do different schemes defensively when I’m on the floor. Just been trying to give these guys my insight on the defensive end, looking at clips, grabbing the iPad and showing guys when they come out, things like that. The offense though, we’ve been scoring. We just haven’t been defending and that’s where our struggles have been. Transition, rebounding, everything on the defensive end.”
The Lakers time is slowly dwindling and it remains to be seen if they are going to make any win now moves. Perhaps Davis coming back can help bring the season back into fruition but clearly the Lakers depth is being questioned.
