One of the biggest talking points to come out of Game 2 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, was Anthony Davis only taking one shot in the fourth quarter. Lakers legend James Worthy chimed in on that subject and he believes head coach Darvin Ham should have called plays for Davis.
“Sometimes it can’t be left up to the players on the floor. Sometimes you gotta call his play,” Worthy said. “… This is a pattern that hasn’t been broken yet.”
I get the point Worthy was making there, but for me, this is down to Davis himself. As one of the superstars, it’s supposed to be your responsibility to get the team over the line and he didn’t do that here.
Davis had a first half for the ages in Game 2, as he recorded 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. The 31-year-old went 11-12 from the field and at that point, had completely outplayed Nikola Jokic.
Davis had a decent start to the third quarter as well and with him leading the charge, the Lakers led by 20 points at one stage in the period. He hit a shot with just over seven minutes remaining in the quarter to give himself 32 points on the night and you expected he’d end up with about 40. Unfortunately, though, that was that.
Davis only attempted four more shots the rest of the way and missed all of them. Just one of those attempts came in the fourth, as the nine-time All-Star was not much of a factor offensively down the stretch.
This wasn’t the first time this season that we had seen this happen to Davis against the Nuggets. In the first regular-season meeting between the sides, he went scoreless in the entire second half. Then in the final regular season meeting, Davis had four points in the second half.
The Lakers are just not going to win when that happens. Fatigue might well be playing a part there, but Davis still has to perform better than that. He doesn’t necessarily have to be amazing, but at least be above average.
The Nuggets also made an adjustment in that second half of Game 2 that seemed to work against Davis. The Lakers star had done a lot of that damage in the first half against Jokic and the Nuggets had Aaron Gordon guard him from the third quarter.
Gordon is a much better defender, of course, and you would think the Nuggets would have him guarding Davis a fair bit more moving forward. It will be interesting to see how that pans out.
James Worthy Felt The Lakers Lacked The Killer Instinct
Worthy wasn’t critical of just Ham after the game, as he wasn’t all that happy with the players either. Worthy said the Lakers lacked the killer instinct after losing Game 2 against the Nuggets.
“They lacked killer instinct, frivolous, and unprofessional basketball plays in the playoffs in the second game against a team that has your number.”
That was rather scathing from Worthy. The Lakers really should have sealed the deal here after going up by 20 points. There were just way too many empty possessions offensively in the third quarter and instead of stepping on the Nuggets’ throats, they let them back in the game and paid the ultimate price.
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