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Why Lakers Need the ‘Real’ Anthony Davis to Return to Repeat as Champs

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As great as LeBron James is and no matter what happens at the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers need the ‘real’ Anthony Davis to return if they hope to dominate the second half and repeat as NBA champions.

The single biggest major difference for the Los Angeles Lakers between the halfway point of this season versus last season hasn’t been rim protection or 3-point shooting but the play at both ends of the court by Anthony Davis. The issue for Davis this season has been injuries, which have not only had him miss 14 games, during which the Lakers went 7–7, but also led to fewer points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks than halfway through last year.

After 37 games this season, Anthony is averaging 22.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks in 32.8 minutes per game with the Lakers winning 17 while losing 6 of the 23 games he was healthy to play. After 37 games last season, Davis averaged 27.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.6 blocks in 35.2 minutes per game with the Lakers winning 29 games while losing 6 of the 35 games he was able to play.

Not only did Davis’ numbers for the first half of this season fail to match his productivity for the first half of last season, his points per game were 3rd lowest, his rebounds 2nd lowest, and his blocks lowest in his 9-year career. But the heart of Anthony’s problems this season have been the decline in his free throw, midrange, and 3-point shooting percentages from their playoff highs of 57.1% from the field, 83.2% from the line, and 38.3% from deep.

Struggling with injuries and short time off after the playoffs, Davis has seen his proficient playoff shooting falter. So far this season, he’s only shooting 53.3%from the field, 71.5% from the line, and 29.5% from 3-point range. Besides not shooting well, Anthony is not getting to the line. This season, he has averaged only 5.7 free throws per games versus 8.5 last season, despite reducing his attempts from deep from 15% to just 10% of his shots.

Anybody who’s watched the Lakers this season can see that Anthony Davis is not playing or shooting at the level he did in last year’s playoffs, which is why it’s important the Lakers don’t bring him back until he’s 100% healthy. The Lakers don’t need to be the top seed in the West to repeat as champs. They need the ‘real’ Anthony Davis playing like he did in last year’s playoffs. He may not yet be the best player on the team but he’s the key to winning.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, this season’s championship quest is going to be even tougher than last season’s battle in the bubble. The Clippers, Jazz, and Nets will present a more challenging gauntlet for the Lakers to repeat. The Lakers as a team are going to have shoot the three ball a lot better and would be wise to to add anther rim protecting center and one or two high percentage, high volume 3-point shooters to stay ahead of the competition.

The Lakers have made changes to accommodate Anthony Davis’ desire to play power forward instead of center. He’s played the five less the 5% this season versus more than 25% last season and close to 50% in the playoffs. Unless the Lakers make a surprise big move at the trade deadline, this may be the year when Anthony Davis is forced to play the five if the purple and gold are going to have a realistic chance to repeat at NBA champions.

The Lakers are going to need the ‘real’ Anthony Davis to show up and take his rightful place alongside great Lakers centers like Kareem, Wilt, and Shaq if this team is going to win their league best 18th NBA championship.

Lakers Gamble on Victor Oladipo To Create Their Own Superstar Big Three

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If folks wanna recognize The Covid Cup as a legitimate title then they can’t turn around and call for Vogel’s head after an injury-plagued season. I feel like the bubble situation served us well but the quick turnaround, condensed follow-up season wasn’t good for us. Stuff always seems to balance out. I think we definitely need to make adjustments but I don’t see us blowing everything up in what could be Lebron’s final season here. It’s just not what the organization has done in the past.

Lakers Fast Break- Lakers Midseason Grades!

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The lakerholics.com crew of LakerTom, Sean Grice aka MagicMan, Jamie Sweet, and Gerald reunite as they pass out grades for the Lakers as we hit the All-Star break.

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Lakers’ Championship Team Defense Blitzes Lillard and Shuts Down Blazers

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The champion Los Angeles Lakers may have rediscovered their swarming championship team defense in the second half last night as they blitzed Damian Lillard and shut down the Portland Trail Blazers in a 102–93 win.

Besides ending a season longest 4-game losing streak, the win showed the Lakers were still capable of playing the caliber of defense that won their 17th championship despite missing their defensive anchor Anthony Davis. That was something NBA pundits had started to question as the Lakers had lost 5 of the 6 games without Anthony Davis while posting an 18th ranked defensive rating of 112.8 and watching their #1 defensive rating decline.

Buoyed by the return of point guard Dennis Schroder, the Lakers finally displayed the attacking and trapping defense that was the trademark of last season’s championship run in the bubble and had been MIA this season. After struggling to contain Lillard in the first half as he exploded for 24 points, the Lakers tightened their doubles and blitzes in a second half and held Dame to 11 points and the Trail Blazers as a team to just 36 points.

It was the kind of dominating second half defense the Lakers unleashed on high-powered scorers like James Harden, Nikola Jokic, Jimmy Butler, and the same Damian Lillard during their elite championship run in the bubble. Noteworthy, it was also the kind of defensive performance that had earned the Lakers’ the #1 defensive rating all season long but had been completely missing during their last 10 games which included 5 losses and 3 OT wins.

The Lakers defensive rating last night was a stellar 98.9 for the game and 78.3 for the second half. The performance lowered their leading defensive rating to 105.8 and extended their lead over second place Jazz to 1.5 points. Last night’s defensive performance also ended a 10-game streak where the Lakers defensive rating had declined to a 10th rated 109.4 and a 6-game stretch without Anthony Davis were it declined to an 18th rated 112.8.

While the Blazers were missing key players, last night’s performance was by far the Lakers’ best defensive game without AD and showed their ‘attack dog’ swarming, doubling, rotating team defense was not dependent on him. One of the keys to the Lakers’ great defense was LeBron James assuming Anthony Davis’ role and responsibility as the team’s defensive anchor with 10 rebounds, 5 deflections, 4 steals, 3 blocks, and 1 drawn charge.

It’s easy to forget what a major part of the Lakers’ defensive dominance in the playoffs was LeBron James’ elite individual defense, where he matched Anthony Davis’ 1.2 steals and his 0.9 blocks per game was team second best. Last night was a reminder 36-year old LeBron James can still dominate at both ends of the court when needed. James’ mantra has always been to do whatever the Lakers need to . Last night, it was dominant defense.

As a team, the Lakers grabbed 37 defensive rebounds, deflected 19 passes, made 9 steals, and blocked 7 shots with the aggressive swarming ‘attack dog’ defense that dominated as the Lakers won 16 of their 21 playoff games. They held the Blazers to 19 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a dominant 18 minute stretch covering the third quarter and first six minutes of the fourth when they allowed just 23 points

The Lakers’ defensive heroics were teamwide. Caruso had 6 deflections, 6 defensive rebounds, and 2 steals. Schroder had 5 deflections, 3 defensive rebounds, and 1 steal. Horton-Tucker had 5 defensive boards and 2 blocks. Kuzma had 6 defensive boards, Harrell had 4 defensive boards, 1 block, and 1 charge drawn, Morris had 1 deflection, 3 defensive boards, and 1 steal, KCP had 2 deflections and 1 steal. Gasol had 1 defensive board and 1 block.

Individual player defensive ratings were also stellar for the game. Top defensive ratings for the game were 78.3 by Montrezl Harrell, followed by 87.3 by LeBron James, 91.2 by Talen Horton-Tucker, 94.9 by Alex Caruso. Markieff Morris posted 97.8, Wes Matthew 100.0, Kyle Kuzma’s 104.4, and Dennis Schroder 104.9. The only Lakers with subpar ratings last night were Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 112.2 and Marc Gasol with 120.0.

The Lakers have three games before the All-Star break: Warriors on Sunday, Suns next Tuesday, and Kings next Wednesday. If they can play the same level of defense as last night, they’ll have a good chance to win all three.