The Los Angeles Lakers took a tough loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday, and while star big man Anthony Davis wanted to take all the blame following the game, veteran guard Dennis Schroder wasn’t going to let that happen.
Davis said he “played terrible” following the defeat.
AD on why the Lakers lost tonight: "My play. I played terrible. … The guys did their job. I didn't do my job tonight."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) March 13, 2023
Schroder, on the other hand, explained that the loss is on “everybody.”
“It’s on everybody,” Schroder said. “When we lose, we lose as a team. When we win, we win as a team. But A.D., he tries to be great at all times, and he has been, 90 percent of the time, great for us. … So, he can’t put it on himself.”
While Davis finished with a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds, he couldn’t seem to find a rhythm offensively for a second straight game. Over his last two games, he’s averaging just 12.5 points per contest.
But overall, the veteran has been phenomenal for the Lakers lately, and a couple of bad performances certainly don’t erase how important he has been for the team. It’s hard to be terribly concerned about his two-game cold spell when he averaged 33.0 points, 13.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.8 blocks per game over a five-game stretch directly before it.
It’s certainly good to hear a player like Davis hold himself accountable after a difficult performance, but Lakers fans are definitely behind him. Moreover, Schroder’s quotes on the matter are impressive and paint him as a leader.
The play-in race in the Western Conference is intensifying, and the Lakers are right in the thick of it. At 33-35, they have the same record as three other teams: the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans. As things stand now, there isn’t room for all of them in the play-in picture, so the coming weeks are going to be extremely important.
The Lakers have perhaps their biggest game of the season so far coming up against New Orleans. It’ll take place on the road on Tuesday. With less than a month remaining in the regular season, the fate of the Lakers’ season is in their own hands.
