Getty Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Heading into the final 14 games of the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers have high hopes. After going 14-21 in the first two months of the season, they turned their season around, going 19-14 since December 28 and 8-5 since landing a successful haul at the trade deadline.
However, after a three-game win streak, the Lakers dropped a game to the New York Knicks on March 12. After the 112-108 defeat, Anthony Davis claimed responsibility for the loss, which put the Lakers temporarily out of the Western Conference’s playoff picture. Point guard Dennis Schröder noted that it wasn’t Davis’ fault.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s everybody. It’s everybody in this locker room. I mean, I can say the same thing,” Schröder said. “When I came in, I had two quick turnovers. It’s on everybody. And when we lose, we lose as a team. If we win, we win as a team. But AD, he tries to be great at all times, and he’d been, I mean, 90% of the time, great for us. And I mean, that you miss free throws there. I mean, that happens. We’re all humans. And we can’t control if a shot goes in. But everything else, defensively, he did a great job still. Even in the second half on Julius Randle. So, he can’t put it on himself.”
Even though Davis had 16 rebounds, he did struggle offensively against the Knicks, scoring 17 points on 8-of-18 shooting. He missed his only 3-point attempt was just 1-of-5 from the free throw line. He added four assists.
As for Schröder, he played well in his 26 minutes off of the bench, ending the night with 14 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist on 6-of-11 shooting overall and 1-of-3 shooting from distance.
Anthony Davis Takes Blame for Loss
Davis credited his teammates but found fault in his own play.
“I played terrible,” he told reporters. “Couldn’t find my shot: free throws, layups, everything. The guys did their job. I didn’t do my job tonight.”
He said that he simply missed too many shots against the Knicks.
“I just missed a lot of shots,” Davis said. “I don’t think they did anything special. A lot of times one-on-one, they doubled a couple times. But I don’t think it was anything that carried over from Toronto.”
Now, the Lakers are in 11th place in the Western Conference with 14 games to play. Los Angeles is tied with three other teams with a 33-35 record. As of March 13, two of them, the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder, would be in the play-in tournament while the Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans would be on the outside looking in. The Lakers play the Pelicans on March 14, the Thunder on March 24 and the Jazz on April 4 and 9.
D’Angelo Russell Sounds Off on Julius Randle
In other news, after the Lakers’ loss to the Knicks, D’Angelo Russell was asked about his relationship with Randle, his former Laker teammate. He said that they don’t have a relationship.
“I’m just a fan of his game. No relationship,” Russell said. “We played together. Went our separate ways after that, and it’s just been competitive energy ever since then. So, I mean, that’s how I am with everybody. I’m not really friends with anybody, to be honest. So, on the court, it’s no love. You know, you just want to battle, try to get the win and maybe shake hands after.”
