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Anthony Davis shouldered the blame after the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the New York Knicks 112-108 on Sunday.
Davis had an off night against the Knicks, struggling shooting the ball. He was just 8-of-18 from the floor and hit just one of his five free throws. He finished the game with 17 points and 16 rebounds but still felt responsible for the Lakers dropping the crucial contest.
“My play,” Davis said when asked for the reason for the defeat. “I played terrible. Couldn’t find my shot: free throws, layups, everything. The guys did their job. I didn’t do my job tonight.”
It was the second down game in a row for the usually reliable Davis. He scored just eight points in a win against the Raptors earlier in the week, but his teammates were able to cover for him in that contest, with the Lakers winning 122-112.
Davis does not believe that the Raptors put out a game plan on how to stop him. It was simply just two poor performances in a row.
“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.”
Lakers Teammates Have Anthony Davis’ Back
It’s been a rough few games for Davis but his teammates still have his back. And why would they not, considering the big man has carried the load the majority of the time when healthy. Davis is averaging 26.1 points and 12.4 rebounds this season.
“It’s on everybody,” Schroder said. “When we lose, we lose as a team. When we win, we win as a team. But, AD, he tries to be great at all times and he has been, 90 percent of the time, great for us. … So, he can’t put it on himself.”
The win denied the Lakers the chance to move to .500 for the first time since they kicked off the season at 0-0. LA is currently the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference, with every game having significant implications on the standings. The Lakers are just one game back of the No. 7 seed and 2.5 games back of the No. 5 seed.
“That one hurt,” said D’Angelo Russell, who scored a season-high 33 points. “That one hurt for us. I think we were battling, we tried to do everything we could. We couldn’t get enough rebounds, no stops, didn’t make enough shots. It just didn’t go our way, I guess.”
Lakers Get Good News on LeBron James
It wasn’t all bad news for the Lakers on Sunday night despite the loss, which ended their three-game winning streak. Superstar forward LeBron James has rejoined the team after being away for the last week and is expected to have his foot injury reevaluated in approximately a week and a half, per ESPN.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said the time away for James was good, not only for his physical health, but also mental.
“It’s also good for him to unplug a little bit,” Ham said. “Not be detached necessarily, but just mentally get a little bit of a calming to everything that’s transpired over the year. … It’s not just about him getting healthy; it’s about him being in a good place mentally and spiritually so we get the best version of him when he returns.”
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