The Los Angeles Lakers ended their season-opening homestand with a disappointing loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Lakers star LeBron James and point guard Dennis Schroder did their best to carry the team offensively. However, it was not enough to make up for Anthony Davis’ subpar game.
After the match, James and coach Frank Vogel pointed out that the team needs to do a “better job” of involving the seven-time All-Star on offense.
Frank Vogel feels the team needs to do a better job of getting Anthony Davis involved in the offense.
AD finished with 13 points tonight.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) December 29, 2020
LeBron on AD: “We always got to do a better job of finding him, looking for him.”
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) December 29, 2020
Davis was uncharacteristically tentative in several stretches of his first match after a one-game absence. He missed the Lakers’ win against Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night because of a calf injury.
Davis finished with just 13 points on 14 field-goal attempts. Also, his lack of aggression on offense was evident as he went to the charity stripe only twice the entire night.
On the plus side, he posted a team-high 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.
Still, for Los Angeles to win games, Davis has to get to the basket a lot more than he did against Portland. But, it will take better team effort to help provide Davis more scoring opportunities.
The defending champions have plenty of time to figure it out even after falling to 2-2 early in the season.
