"It was shameful" - Stephen A. Smith slams LA Lakers for losing to Morant-less Grizzlies, puts the onus on Anthony Davis
The LA Lakers were stunned by the Ja Morant-less Memphis Grizzlies 103-93 on Wednesday as the visiting team struggled to find any consistent rhythm.
On ESPN's "First Take," analyst Stephen A. Smith spoke about Anthony Davis' disappointing performance in Game 2.
"It was shameful, especially by Anthony Davis," Smith said. "He should be ashamed of himself the way that he played last night. I would remind you that Steven Adams is gone. I would remind you that Brandon Clarke is gone. I would remind you that some dude named Xavier Tillman rolled up in there and had 22 points and 13 rebounds."
Smith questioned Davis' lack of aggression in Game 2 as opposed to his Game 1 double-double performance of 22 points and 12 rebounds along with seven blocks.
In Game 2, as Memphis evened the series 1-1, Davis only had 13 points on 4-for-14 shooting and nine rebounds. Smith said that the Lakers' star was ducking mismatches against Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones.
Anthony Davis' struggles made things worse for the Lakers as LeBron James took time to get himself going. The role players, outside of Rui Hachimura's 20 points and Austin Reaves' 13 points, were of little to no help as they also lacked aggression similar to Davis.
Lakers' All-Star forward on his Game 2 performance
After the loss in Game 2, Davis said:
"I like the shots I took,” Davis said, “Just missed 'em. Lotta shots close to the rim I normally make, go in. Obviously, I can be better. Can’t have a night like I had tonight and expect us to win. Flush it and get ready for (Game 3 on Saturday)."
As rough as the night was for Anthony Davis, it got even rougher when his shot got blocked at the rim by the Grizzlies' 6-foot-5 John Konchar.
Austin Reaves, Davis' teammate, said that he and the rest of the team's guards could have done a better job in feeding Davis the ball.
"Just try to make it easier for him," Reaves said. "Get him the ball in better spots. I feel like we got him the ball in a couple tough spots where he had to try and make a shot over two or three people."
With games 3 and 4 on the Lakers' home court, Davis has a shot to redeem himself and give his team a fighting chance against the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, especially with Ja Morant's questionable status.