The Los Angeles Lakers edge closer to elimination from the NBA post-season every single day, as the Lakers lost yet another game, this time to the Denver Nuggets. While the Lakers were competitive, the fourth quarter saw Denver turn the tides in their favor as the LeBron James-less Lakers couldn’t hold out for the win.
Anthony Davis was the star on the court for the Lakers as LeBron rested to heal his ankle. The timing has been really bad, as Anthony Davis just got back from his second injury absence of the season and wasn’t enough to carry the Lakers against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.
Davis spoke about the season after the game, ruminating on it as if it is a lost season because of the injuries that have crippled this team.
"What could have been…"
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— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 4, 2022
“I think the biggest thing that I think about personally is what we could have been, had we stayed healthy all year. What could we have been. … Guys feel like, ‘OK, what could we have been if I was healthy all year, [LeBron James] was healthy, [Kendrick] Nunn was healthy.’ You think about those things. We put this team together and it looked good on paper, but we haven’t had a chance to reach that potential with guys in and out of the lineup. So the most frustrating part of this season is not being sure of what we could have been.” (h/t ESPN)
Davis has missed 39 games this season due to various injuries, leaving LeBron James alone for most of the winter. However, James himself hasn’t been enough to lead the Lakers to consistent wins, as they have gotten worse over the season and currently sit two games out of the play-in tournament.
While AD isn’t wrong about injuries hampering LA, it was something the Lakers dealt with last season as well and didn’t budget for that depth this season with their roster construction. There have been a lot of mistakes made by the Lakers organization, and this off-season will be crucial for them to address that and move forward.
