"He gets one rebound" - Skip Bayless gives Anthony Davis scathing dressing down following Lakers loss
Anthony Davis and the LA Lakers went down early to the Denver Nuggets in their season opener at Ball Arena. Despite a spirited comeback attempt from the team, they fell short of a remarkable opening-night victory, falling to 0-1 to start the season.
After the game, Anthony Davis' production in the second half earned him considerable criticism from fans and analysts alike.
In the first half, Davis started out the game strong, racking up 17 points, including a highlight-reel dunk early on in the contest. Unfortunately for the LA Lakers, while Davis started out the game strong on both ends of the floor, he became unable to find his rhythm in the second half.
Throughout the second half, Davis scored a total of zero points, going 0-6 from the floor while struggling to contain reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic. His struggles earned him criticism after the game from the Inside the NBA crew, who didn't hold back
Similarly, longtime outspoken TV personality Skip Bayless was quick to rip Davis on Wednesday for his performance. He spoke on Undisputed Wednesday morning:
"I've seen a lot of really good teams fall flat on their faces after a ring ceremony on opening night at home. And what happens? Do AD and company come out and kick some ass to start the game? No they lose the first quarter 34-20 and then AD goes through the whole first half and he gets one rebound.
But to his credit ... he scored 17 in the first half, that's pretty good. That's good enough against Jokic, you say 'you held your own'. So then we get to the second half and you think 'Okay you climbed back slowly but surely ...' The damndest thing happened, AD comes out like he doesn't even want to play in the second half."
Looking at what Anthony Davis said about his struggles on opening night?
Heading into this season, it was reported that the LA Lakers coaching staff wanted Anthony Davis to shoot more three-pointers. Of course, when looking at his three-point averages, many questioned whether the longtime All-Star should be taking more shots.
In the Lakers' opening game, Davis shot the ball twice from beyond the arc, going 50% on the night. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they had a number of players struggle from downtown, including Rui Hachimura, who went 0-3, and Gabe Vincent, who went 0-4.
Following the LA Lakers' 119-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Anthony Davis spoke about the game and what went wrong for him in the second half.
“They started double-teaming, trying to crowd the paint. I missed some easy layups around the rim, little jumpers. But I was trying to make the right play, kick it out to our guys when they double. Rui had an open three, Gabe had open threes, they just didn’t fall. But I have to shoot it more.”
The Lakers will be back in action on Thursday when they face the Phoenix Suns in their home opener at Crypto.com Arena. There, they will look to shake off Tuesday's loss and capture their first win of the season.