Getty Anthony Davis believes the Lakers have a lot to work on.
Anthony Davis did not hold back after the Los Angeles Lakers’ “embarrassing” 24-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Davis was as candid as the big man has been so far this season admitting the Lakers “sucked” against the Timberwolves.
“We sucked, no defense, can’t score,” Davis stated bluntly in his postgame press conference. “That’s not [just] this third quarter, [it’s] every third quarter that we play this season. We come out slow, lackadaisical offensively and defensively. We got to get it together, why? I can’t tell you, but we have to do a better job. I mean, we scored 12 points in the third quarter, they scored 40. That’s the game right there. We got to do a better job [of] coming out in the third [quarter].”
ALL the latest Los Angeles Lakers news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Lakers newsletter here!
A.D. on Lakers: ‘We’re Not Winning a Championship the Way We’re Playing’
Davis led the Lakers in scoring with 22 points and added eight rebounds. The Lakers big man has battled through sickness and injuries to start the season. Viral videos have surfaced of Davis throwing up during games, but the big man declined to point the finger at any one player. Davis was still blunt in his assessment of the Lakers after 13 games stating this is not a championship team.
“We gotta decide who we want to be, [a] championship team? It’s not us right now,” Davis added. “We’re not winning a championship the way we’re playing. We got to be better, and we got to care more for our wins at home, wins in general. That was embarrassing to be up five at half. Obviously, this team shoots a lot of threes, but they have guys who can score the basketball, but it was just no effort in the third quarter.
“I don’t want to say the first half. First half, I think we looked really good. We had some mistakes but our effort was there. Energy in the third quarter just wasn’t there for us.”
The Timberwolves Outscored the Lakers 40-12 in the 3rd Quarter
As Davis pointed out, the third quarter proved to be the tipping point for the Lakers which resulted in the blowout loss. The Timberwolves outscored the Lakers 40-12 in the third quarter. When asked about the poor quarter, Russell Westbrook did not have an explanation for the outing other than to say the team did not “come out ready” lacking “preparation.”
“Just not coming out ready, we didn’t do a good job of being prepared, especially in the third quarter,” Westbrook noted in his postgame press conference. “Ain’t too much to say, but obviously we [didn’t] make no shots either, but you know.”
If Lakers fans are looking for any signs of life, help appears to be on the way soon. Prior to tipoff, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel revealed that LeBron James is day-to-day with his recent injury. James’ next opportunity to return to the court is against the Spurs on November 14 or versus the Bulls on November 15 with both games occurring at the Staples Center.