The Nuggets have the Lakers’ number! Anthony Davis is in MVP form, doesn’t matter. LeBron James is on a tear, doesn’t matter. The Crypto.com Arena is a fortress for the Lakers. That didn’t matter too. The only thing that mattered was with this 102-127 loss, their scores now stand at Lakers:1 and Nuggets:12 in the thirteen previous matchups. This sparks the obvious question, is their past still haunting them? HC JJ Redick quickly dismissed this notion and Anthony Davis weighed in on that.

Redick offered a clear explanation for the Lakers’ struggles on Saturday night. And no, it wasn’t “the ghosts of the past.” Instead, during the post-game press conference, he mentioned, “Clearly, the spirit to compete wasn’t there.” The media then turned to Anthony Davis, eager to hear his thoughts on the coach’s remarks.

“It was just the frustration part,” Anthony Davis stated. Taking a pause he further added what went wrong for them. “I mean, we’re giving up so many backdoors to start. The 3rd open threes, our defense, and Michael Porter coming off. We’re getting screened, he was making shots.” The offensive center pointed out several technical issues, including their lack in the defensive field, which allowed Porter to make open shots. Moreover, the Lakers struggled to contest the Nuggets’ 3-pointers, allowing them to shoot with a 50% accuracy, while the LA side only managed 36.1%.

Lastly, AD highlighted, “When you play so well in the first half and then you come out like we did in the next 3rd quarter. You know, giving up backdoors and threes, wide open, it would definitely be deflating.” The Purple and Gold certainly had a better opening half with a six-point lead but the Nuggets were quick to flip the script in the second half. Though AD didn’t seem concerned about his own shooting struggles, that was one of the factors why the game slipped from the Lakers.

Anthony Davis seems unbothered about his shooting struggles

Anthony Davis, who is shooting over 57% from the field on average this season, struggled against the Nuggets. The shots he typically makes with confidence night after night and he ended the game shooting 6-of-19. Despite the tough night, he wasn’t unhappy.

“Just missed shots,” he said in the same post-game interview when the report asked him about his misses. “I mean, I think all great looks, you know, miss or make lead.” AD believed that even though he missed some shots, he knew how to compensate by knocking some more. “I’ll make more than I miss for sure. You always wish you can make every shot confident every shot. I took shots that I normally make all of us.” The 9-time All-Star also underlined that it is not realistic to expect all the shots to make it to the bucket. However, he added, “To be honest, shots that we all normally make. We just missed no, but, no, I liked every shot that I took tonight.”

The 14 points Anthony Davis scored against the Nuggets marked his lowest of the season, so he can certainly be excused. However, the two consecutive losses reflect poorly on JJ Redick’s resume, and he doesn’t strike as the type of coach who would tolerate that as he’s here to win. Hopefully, he’ll find a way to reignite the Lakers’ competitive spirit and keep their fire burning.