The Los Angeles Lakers suffered another defeat against the Denver Nuggets Saturday night, and it followed a similar storyline as their previous meetings.
The Nuggets have now beaten the Lakers eight straight times and in virtually every game the two teams have been close in the final minutes. From there, the Nuggets took over with exceptional offensive execution to secure the victories while the Lakers struggled on both ends of the court in critical moments.
After this latest loss to the Nuggets, Anthony Davis explained what went wrong and why Denver is so difficult to stop.
“I think tonight Cam was in the action, Austin and Rui, and they were going to like a double screen,” Davis said. “And Cam was so far behind because the guys were scouting. Rui was trying to help but also stay attached to Jokic and I’m the guy helping him, so when I see Jamal Murray out and he’s open, he’s obviously a heck of a basketball player, so you don’t want to not give it to him. look because these are two guys they are looking for, him first and then Jokic and vice versa. So they tried to help and then they hit Jokic, you know what I mean? Jokic hits Aaron Gordon on a dunk or he hits their shooters on the weak side.
“So it’s just something we need to explore further. We’re going to see this team again and it won’t be the last time they get this package. We need to watch the movie and see what happened, dissect it, and prepare ourselves for the next time we see them.
The Lakers played hard against the Nuggets for the first 45 minutes of the game but couldn’t close out the game, which has become a theme when these two teams meet. After the loss, Davis was asked if he thought the Lakers were getting closer to defeating the reigning NBA champions.
” In a sense. Because they do the same thing and they beat us every time,” Davis said. “Yes, we are getting closer, from the first 42 minutes, even 44 minutes. And then for those last four minutes, it’s just them getting to what they’re getting to. And they make us pay for our mistakes, as I say. Sure, they made some tough shots. But they succeed every time and you know it’s happening. But it’s a great execution team. You’re making a mistake with Jamal Murray’s scoring and passing ability, and the same with Jokic.
“And then you have shooters around. Aaron Gordon on the glass goes to the shorts when I go to help, which they do a lot with the lob. And then behind them, they put a shooter in this corner, and it’s like you choose your position. So they do a great job doing readings.
Davis had just four second-half points in Saturday’s game to finish with 17 total, which isn’t enough against a tough team like Denver.
Anthony Davis: Lakers must overcome Nuggets loss
March is a tough month for the Lakers, which is why Anthony Davis stressed that they have to overcome the Nuggets’ loss despite their mistakes late in the game.
“First we need to move on,” Davis said. “We play every other night, so get ready for a hot OKC team, Sac, Milwaukee, all those guys. But for them, the match is always won in the last two or three minutes of the match. Same action and they often confused us with our help. We had some unfortunate plays, Bron is stripped, I’m stripped, Aaron Gordon gets the long rebound and hits a turnaround 3, Austin tries to help and Justin Holiday hits a 3.
“So it was tough games for us, but in the last minutes they go into their package in the fourth quarter and we either help them too much or not enough and it seems like this team is the one that always makes us pay for our mistakes.
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