Anthony Davis Pinpoints “Collective Problem” Lakers Need to Tend to After Magic Embarrassment

All is not well at the Los Angeles Lakers camp. Their 2023-24 season is off to a rocky start. Out of the six games they’ve played this season, they have won three and lost three. On Saturday, they tipped off against Orlando Magic and suffered a humiliating loss. Against Orlando’s 120, the Lakers were able to only put up a 101. This loss follows their relatively good winning streak in the previous two games. 

No one in particular can be blamed for this loss, as it was more of the absence of a collective team effort. And Anthony Davis also seems to agree with this during his talk with the press. 

Anthony’s thoughts on the game 

When talking post-game to the media, the Lakers forward pointed out that this was a ‘collective problem’. 

He promised that the team would work on their play and “tighten up the screws a little bit.” Davis also added that the offensive rebounds killed them right from the start, as the opponents maintained the lead right from the first quarter. 

With five players sitting out due to injuries, the odds were against the Lakers and Orlando just capitalized on it. LeBron James spoke on this saying, “It definitely helps when you have bigger bodies. We have three of our bigger bodies out right now with injuries. … It would help, but that’s definitely one of the ways we have to look at to get better.”

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Head coach Darvin Ham agreed with James adding, “They’re down bodies, we’re down bodies and so the game basically comes down to mental approach. Their energy, their effort, they outworked us.”

The match breakdown

Right from the very first minute and till the buzzer went off, Orlando, who were missing three players, dominated the match and maintained a healthy gap from the Lakers on the scoreboard. Franz Wagner led the team with 26 points and Paolo Banchero added 25 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds. The former scored seven straight points early in the game and Banchero hit a 3-pointer and a 19-foot jumper during a 13-0 run that put Orlando up for good in the first quarter. Just with this, Orlando was leading by 16 points at halftime.

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Rookie Anthony Black scored 11 points in his first start for the team and Goga Bitadze, the center put up 10 points with ten rebounds and five blocks. With this collective effort, something missing with the Lakers, Orlando could easily take away the win. They are now placed first in the Southeast division and hope to maintain throughout the regular season.

Do you agree with what Anthony Davis said about the collective effort on the Lakers’ end? Let us know what you think.