The Los Angeles Lakers surprisingly lose to the Detroit Pistons. The strong performances at the start of the season have almost been forgotten. Superstar Anthony Davis is also worried.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ promising start to the season with three wins in a row already seems a long way off. Monday night’s 103-115 loss to the unranked Detroit Pistons dropped the Lakers to an overall record of 4-3, with just one win on their current five-game road trip.
To make matters worse, superstar Anthony Davis, whose 37 points against Detroit raised his league-leading average to 32.6 points per game, also needs to have his left ankle examined after injuring it again in the final quarter.
Davis had brought the Lakers, who were down by as many as 20 points in the first half, to 96:103 with an important basket in the fourth quarter. But the basket had its price. As Davis caught the ball after the jump and planted his foot, he felt pain and grimaced as he retreated to the defensive end.
Lakers superstar Davis speaks about injury
“I’m going to talk to my coach and try to figure out exactly what’s going on,” Davis said after the game. “I’ve had it under control since this summer and my goal for every game is to be on the pitch. I just landed right on the spot that was giving me problems. We’ll find out.”
Sea ESPN Davis has not yet been ruled out for the Lakers’ game in Memphis on Wednesday, which concludes the road trip. However, caution is advised as the foot problem has accompanied the All-Star big man from the end of last season right up to the Olympic Games in Paris.
LeBron James: “Don’t need a rocket scientist”
LeBron James, who had 20 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds in 40 minutes of play, was asked after the game what Davis’ potential loss could mean for LA. “I don’t know,” James said. As a reporter probed, Davis, standing next to James, intervened and said, referring to himself, “He’s not out.”
James, listening to Davis, also didn’t want to get involved in hypothetical scenarios. “I don’t play the ‘if’ game,” James said. “We’ll go by what AD says and see how he feels in the next few days and then take a look. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know (the effects) of having AD or not.”
But even with Davis, the Lakers are currently often showing two different faces. “We’re two different teams right now,” Davis said. “In one game, we’re that team that showed we can be one of the better teams in the league. Then the next game we’re this team that – I don’t even know who we are. We just have to get better. (…) We have to get a full 48 minutes together and we can’t continue like this if we want to achieve anything this season.”
