Anthony Davis ‘outed highlights Lakers’ latest string of struggles

Things are likely to be much better in Los Angeles.

After an 18-point loss at home to the Bulls, the Lakers have lost 8-7 of the season and are still extremely difficult to assess. Just as they have found impressive ways to win this season, they have found even more confusing ways to lose.

THAN: How long will LeBron be absent?

To be fair, it’s hard to really judge a team that hasn’t had its best player in two-thirds of its first 15 games, but LeBron James’ injury has peeled back the layers of problems that the His return may be irreparable. .

It started with Anthony Davis.

Finally fit after battling injury after last season, Davis is once again putting up the same numbers as Davis with an average of 24.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per contest, but it looks like it something is missing. In Monday’s loss to the Bulls, which started with Alex Caruso at forward, Davis only managed to hit four shots in the first half to go into the break with seven points.

THAN: Why didn’t the Lakers keep Caruso?

His frustration hit when he was sent off in the third round, performing second technique of the game in an odd situation where he struggled to put his boots back on.

Serious.

This strange sequence of events only begins to highlight the problems facing the Lakers team.

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Third Quarter Calamity

Note that at the time Davis was eliminated, the Lakers were down 86-66, which is remarkable given that the team entered with 9 points.

Thus, continuing a trend of underperformance in the third quarter from the Lakers, which Davis looked set to have lost after a massive loss to the Timberwolves.

THAN: Davis calls Wolves loss ‘shameful’

Per Alex Kennedy of basketball news, the Lakers have now been outperformed in the third quarter of nine of their first 15 games and six by double digits.

For the third inning that drew Davis’ fury, the Lakers were 40-12 ahead of the Timberwolves, which were judged like the best Play-In team. Performances like that won’t cut it off for a team with real championship aspirations.

Was it a mid-time speech? Sure is not. But it’s also an overarching problem that will take longer than James’ coming back to fix.

The road becomes more difficult

If it feels like the Lakers are at Staples Center every time you tune in to watch them play, that’s because they used to be.

To open the season, the Lakers played 12 of their first 15 home games, which they didn’t really take advantage of much, starting with a 7-5 home record. As things naturally balance, the Lakers are now heading East for a five-game trip, starting with the defending champions.

Up until this point, it’s hard to judge the Lakers as a top laner as they’ve only played 3 top lane games so far. Their record? 1-2, with defeat coming to the rebuilding Thunder and a Trail Blazers taking just seven points (on a 3 to 15 shot) from CJ McCollum.

Perhaps the long haul is what the Lakers need to unify and fix some common problems, but when they face three teams that qualified for the knockout stages last year, it won’t be easy.

Will LeBron make things better? Sure. But it’s a bit much to expect him to come back from injury and immediately fix things up.