Anthony Davis reveals what went wrong in Lakers’ loss to Timberwolves
The Lakers can’t get both ends of the floor to get going together.
The Los Angeles Lakers just can’t get out of this recent funk. Despite fighting back from multiple big deficits in the second half on Friday night, the Lakers ultimately fell 97-87 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a defensive slugfest.
The Lakers are now just 3-8 in their last 11 games and have fallen to 13-12 on the season, which puts them in 10th in the Western Conference. They obviously have plenty of time to turn it around, but if this trend continues then the Lakers will be fighting for their playoff lives for the rest of the season.
After the game, Lakers forward Anthony Davis explained where the team fell short in Friday’s loss, according to Lakers Nation.
“I think we did enough defensively, just didn’t do enough offensively. Turnovers played a big factor,” Davis said postgame. “It’s tough to win a basketball game when you have 22 turnovers.”
Interestingly, this is a complete reversal from what has plagued the Lakers for most of this season. For a majority of the first quarter of the schedule, the Lakers have had one of the best offenses in the NBA while their defense has suffered, allowing other teams to beat them in shootouts.
Davis played his part on the offensive end in this one on top of carrying his usual workload as a do-it-all defender. He finished this game with 23 points and 11 rebounds on 10-for-21 shooting. Davis also blocked three shots to solidify his impact defensively.
Lakers grasping for solutions amid lengthy slump
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The Lakers desperately need to get things back on track quickly after another loss dropped them to just one game over .500 on the season. After looking like one of the best teams in the Western Conference at the beginning of the season, the Lakers have plummeted back towards the pack and now sit behind most of the top teams in the conference.
Not having LeBron James out there on the floor due to personal reasons certainly doesn’t help the Lakers on the offensive end, though it may help on defense with where James is at in his career. However, the penalty of not having a perimeter ball handler and someone to facilitate the offense is very steep, and it hurt the Lakers in a big way on Friday night.
While James is out, however long that is, Austin Reaves is going to have to step up and become the primary guy for the Lakers outside of Anthony Davis on offense. D’Angelo Russell will also have to be a big part of the offense, whether he continues to come off the bench or moves back into the starting lineup. JJ Redick opted to go with Gabe Vincent with the first five on Friday and continue to bring Russell off the bench.
No matter what the solution is, Redick and the Lakers have to find it quickly if they want to avoid getting stuck in the play-in mix for the rest of the season.
