13 March 2023 , 13:47
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Anthony Davis hit out at himself for halting the Los Angeles Lakers ’ momentum after the team squandered a chance to get back to .500 for the first time since opening the season schedule with a 112-108 loss to the New York Knicks.
The Lakers made a series of trades before last month's deadline to bolster their chances of making the Play-Offs, but now face missing out entirely. Davis finished with 17 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block on Sunday night, but the 30-year-old missed 10 of his 18 field goal attempts and also missed four out of five free throw attempts.
When asked about the reason for the defeat, Davis didn't hold back, simply responding: "My play. I played terrible. Couldn't find my shot: free throws, layups, everything. The guys did their job. I didn't do my job tonight."
Instead of evening out their record, the Lakers are now sat 11th in the Western Conference on 33-35 and outside the play-in tournament. But guard Dennis Schroder says the whole team shoulders the blame - not just Davis.
"It's on everybody," Schroder said. “When we lose, we lose as a team. When we win, we win as a team. But AD, he tries to be great at all times, and he has been, 90 percent of the time, great for us... So, he can't put it on himself."
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Davis’ poor showing came shortly after he was praised by teammates for encouraging the group to keep going with what was working in the 122-112 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday, where he scored only eight points.
Anthony Davis has been expected to carry the team in LeBron James' absence (Getty Images)The eight-time NBA All-Star doesn’t believe that the Raptors provided a defensive blueprint for the Knicks to follow and continued to put the blame on himself.
"I just missed a lot of shots," Davis said. "I don't think they did anything special. A lot of times one-on-one, they doubled a couple times. But I don't think it was anything that carried over from Toronto."
Davis will look to lead the Lakers to victory against his former team, the New Orleans Pelicans, on Wednesday with the teams sat with the same 33-35 record.