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At 16-15, your plummeting Los Angeles Lakers appear far from title contention.
Beyond the anticipated long-term absence of Gabe Vincent post-knee surgery, the Lakers don’t have the convenient excuse of health that, say, the 11th-seeded Phoenix Suns can use (although, in a point against Phoenix, if they didn’t think Bradley Beal was going to get hurt a lot, they clearly didn’t do any research).
That hasn’t stopped them from trying, of course.
LA center Anthony Davis, however, more than did his part offensively, scoring a season-most 40 points on 15-of-26 shooting from the field, pulling down 13 rebounds, dishing out four assists and blocking one shot in the loss.
He spoke with gathered reporters postgame to unpack his own play.
“You always think about shots you could’ve made, defensive plays you could’ve made, rebounds you could’ve had, free throws I could’ve made, things like that, that could’ve changed the game,” Davis said. “I was actually thinking about in the game, I missed a free throw in the third quarter, [Boston] ended up getting a fast break three. And all I was thinking was, ‘If I make the free throw that doesn’t happen.'”
Through LA’s last seven games, Davis at least has been on a tear, averaging 31.7 points on 58% shooting from the field, 11.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. That said, LA has gone 2-5 in those games.