Another close game for the Lakers on Friday night. As the Lakers were neck and neck with the Sacramento Kings, it appeared that this game was not going to end in regulation. Even with a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Kings found a way to tie it up and the Lakers now know what they were doing wrong.
After the game on Friday night, a frustrated Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook took to their postgame interview together to answer the difficult questions ahead of them. After being asked how the Lakers can improve, Anthony Davis talked about what they did wrong.
"Stops, shot quality, I think what hurt us tonight was offensive rebounds," said Davis.
"They had 16 offensive rebounds. So I think our shot quality towards the end of the games, we just got to be able to get good looks. All makeable shots, of course, my shots, Russ, Bron, Melo, like we had some great looks...I think we shot a lot of jump shots, all of us did. We've just got to do a better job of that in that area."
The Lakers are clearly working hard, but they were not able to rack up points how they wanted. This is a big reason for their slow starts each week and makes it harder for them to climb their way back to take the lead.
Davis continued and talked about the issue that is really weighing heavy on his mind after the embarrassing loss.
"I am not worried about the offense. I think defensively, we gotta do better. Like I said, they made some tough shots. Hats off to them for making some tough shots...One shot, I think it was three times we got a stop and they got the offensive rebound and they scored all of them."
The biggest issue is as clear as day to Davis. The Lakers need to be more aggressive defensively. Even if some players struggled to make shots, that can change. The most important thing is that they are able to make those defensive plays that change the game. If they cannot make important stops, then they will continue to lose and they know it.
The Lakers play again on Sunday when they got up against the Detriot Pistons again, but this time in Los Angeles.
More must-reads: