The young NBA season has already been a roller coaster for the Los Angeles Lakers. A six-game winning streak followed a 4-4 start to the year, and they were a half-game out of first place as recently as November 19th. But a tough loss to the Orlando Magic started a downward spiral for JJ Redick’s team, who have now lost 6 of their last 8 contests.
The slump for the team coincides with a drop-off in efficiency from one of their best players.
Lakers Struggle, And So Does Anthony Davis
During the month of the season, Anthony Davis was playing at an MVP level. Up until November 21st, the Lakers big man was averaging 31.1 points per game on 57.3% from the field, including an impressive 43.3% from deep on 2.1 attempts per. He was shouldering much of the load for the team during their hot start, leading them in scoring in 9 of the first 16 games.
Things have taken a downturn ever since, both for team and player. Over the past 7 games, Davis’ points average has dropped to 18 per. His overall field goal percentage is at 43%, and he is making just 15.4% of his three-point attempts, and he has an average plus/minus of -10.1. The Lakers are 2-5 in those contests, and have been outscored by 111 points in total.
Anthony Davis since missing clutch free throws vs. Orlando on Nov 21:
18 PPG on 16.3 FGA
42% from 2
15% from 3Prior to that, AD averaged MVP numbers:
31.3 PPG on 19.1 FGA
59% from 2
43% from 3Volume down. Efficiency down. Franz Wagner broke the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/N1hyPvtBnq
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) December 5, 2024
The play has been especially bad during the past two games. Los Angeles has suffered its two worst losses of the season in back-to-back games, featuring a 29-point loss to the Timberwolves and an ugly 41-point defeat at the hands of the Heat. Anthony Davis struggled mightily in both, averaging 10 points on 25% shooting from the field while missing all three of his three-point attempts.
Others Lakers players have hit rough patches, too. Most notably, LeBron James missed all 19 of his three-point shots over the span of four recent games, and scored just 10 points on 4 of 16 shooting and had a plus/minus of -28 against Minnesota. Role players have seen a drop-off as well, exemplified by Dalton Knecht’s 4.1 point per game average over the last three games after averaging 19 per in the previous nine.
The Lakers and Anthony Davis will hope to turn things around this weekend. They’ll finish up their four-game road trip in Atlanta on Friday, and will return home to play host to the Trail Blazers on Sunday.
