The Los Angeles Lakers had a pivotal game against the Phoenix Suns this past weekend that carried Play-In Tournament ramifications.
The Lakers and Suns came into the afternoon as the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds, respectively, so a win would go a long way in determining standings. However, Los Angeles came out flat and it wound up costing them a win against a shorthanded Phoenix team.
Throughout the game, the Lakers were aggressive getting two feet in the paint and attacking the rim. However, it only resulted in eight free throw attempts for the team and Anthony Davis admitted that it’s their biggest advantage offensively.
“We live on getting to the line,” Davis said. “We attack the basket. I’m not sure how many points in the paint we had but we try to live in the paint, especially with how much we’ve struggled from 3. We’re kind of up and down, so we try to live in the paint and get to the line.
“I’m not sure if it was just the refs missing it or they weren’t fouling. I felt like I got fouled a couple times but that’s part of our identity and DNA, getting to the line and guys catching rhythms like that and playing from there.”
Davis added that he and the team can’t lose their cool when calls aren’t going their way.
“We can’t allow it to,” Davis admitted. “Whether we think we get fouled or not, we got to get back because teams are gonna push and we don’t want to be at a disadvantage. It happened a couple times today, I know I think I had one in front of their bench. But we got to have a next play mentality and get back knowing their team is gonna push and most times they’re gonna make us pay.”
It can be tough to stay mentally engaged when the officials are missing calls, but playing through the whistle is an important mindset to have. Aside from the free throw disparity, Davis said that they can do several things to also improve the rebounding.
Regardless, Davis and company need to get things in order because they’re running out of time to secure a postseason spot.
LeBron James says getting to free throw line is what Lakers do
LeBron James was not pleased with how he was officiated as he believed there were several calls the referees blew. Like Davis, he acknowledged that getting to the line is what the Lakers do.
