LeBron James and Anthony Davis (39 and 38 points) did their best, playing more than 40 minutes, in Atlanta to restore the taste of victory to the Lakers. But they fell in overtime against Trae Young and his gang.
This is the third defeat in a row for Los Angeles and it is explained (in part) by the lack of depth of the group, handicapped by the absences of Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes.
“We’re trying to find solutions to deal with matchups that don’t work and it’s a hell of a challenge,” notes LeBron James. “We don’t have a big margin for error. These are very, very, very important elements. »
The Lakers' replacements only scored 17 points Friday night (only D'Angelo Russell and Max Christie scored…) compared to 65 points for the Hawks bench. Austin Reaves' points, even if he is not always skillful, have clearly been lacking in recent matches.
Don't sink…
“He’s the one who connects our attack, while being a player who scores and makes the play,” explained JJ Redick on the back who averages 16.7 points and 4.8 assists. “He does both, is very competitive and he brings a certain energy every night. »
If Austin Reaves should return quickly, for the rest, it is much more vague. Jaxson Hayes won't return for at least a week, Jarred Vanderbilt not until early January at best, and for Christian Wood, nothing is advanced yet. In short, you have to make do with it, or without it in this case…
“The cavalry is not coming. No one is going to feel sorry for us. We don't have to do it for ourselves.”warns Anthony Davis. “We have to keep working and try to win again on Sunday against Portland. No meeting will be easy, we must win. »
LeBron James is even more direct by saying that he does not know what will allow “to overcome this obstacle” but that he and the Lakers should above all “not flow”. “Don’t drown and everything will be fine”he concludes.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Anthony Davis | 21 | 35.2 | 53.0 | 34.9 | 78.0 | 2.5 | 8.8 | 11.3 | 3.4 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 26.9 |
| LeBron James | 22 | 34.7 | 49.1 | 34.2 | 75.8 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.9 | 9.0 | 4.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 22.3 |
| Austin Reaves | 19 | 33.7 | 44.0 | 35.5 | 77.4 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 16.7 |
| Angelo Russell | 21 | 27.4 | 41.8 | 32.5 | 87.2 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.8 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 12.4 |
| Rui Hachimura | 17 | 31.6 | 47.2 | 43.3 | 84.4 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 5.2 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 12.1 |
| Dalton Knecht | 22 | 24.2 | 47.1 | 40.3 | 77.3 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 11.1 |
| Jaxson Hayes | 11 | 17.4 | 72.2 | 0.0 | 78.3 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 6.4 |
| Max Christie | 21 | 18.3 | 41.8 | 26.8 | 86.5 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 5.7 |
| Cam Reddish | 15 | 19.5 | 48.6 | 45.0 | 66.7 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 3.5 |
| Gabe Vincent | 22 | 18.0 | 34.1 | 23.6 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 3.5 |
| Christian Koloko | 13 | 9.4 | 68.4 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| Jalen Hood-schifino | 2 | 7.1 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
| Armel Traore | 6 | 8.4 | 30.8 | 0.0 | 28.6 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 |
| Maxwell Lewis | 6 | 4.5 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| Bronny James | 6 | 2.6 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
