The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a shocking loss to the 17-52 Houston Rockets on Thursday, effectively erasing all of the momentum they had worked so hard to build up over the previous several games. The Lakers, who are now competing for a position in the Play-In tournament in the West but are without LeBron James, were expected to win easily, but without Anthony Davis, LA battled terribly against the Rockets. In the end, Houston won by a score of 114 to 110.
To be fair, the decision to have Davis sit out Thursday’s game seemed like somewhat of a sound decision. The Lakers were playing on a second night of a back-to-back set, and if they had to choose one game to have their superstar big man take a night off, it would have been this one. As it turns out, however, LA simply couldn’t afford it.
For his part, NBA analyst Chris Broussard of FS1 has blatantly called out the Lakers for their costly decision on AD. The renowned broadcaster also pointed out how daunting the Lakers’ schedule will be the rest of the way:
“Their remaining 10 games, 9 of them are against teams that are either fighting to get in the Play-In or fighting for a playoff position,” Broussard said. “… I’m not blaming AD. Yeah, sure, he could have said, ‘No, I’m playing.’ I actually would have liked that attitude from him: ‘I’m playing. We need this game. We need every game. I’m playing.’ I would have loved to have seen it, but I don’t think that’s his personality.
“I am blaming the Lakers management, and the Lakers doctors, and the ‘science’ … He’s played six straight games, he couldn’t have played seven?”
"Their [Lakers] remaining 10 games—9 of them are against teams that are either fighting to get in the Play-in or fighting for a Playoff position… He's [Anthony Davis] played 6 straight games, he couldn't have played 7?"
—Chris Broussardpic.twitter.com/lG4DOSH1Zp
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 16, 2023
If you look at it that way, then it does seem that this was a costly decision on the part of the Lakers. This is all in hindsight, though, and at this point, there’s nothing more they can do about it.
The good news for LeBron James and the Lakers is that they are still well within the playoff picture out West. In spite of Wednesday’s disappointing loss, LA is still 10th in the conference with a 34-36 record. It goes without saying, however, that every game from here on out is virtually going to be a must-win for them.
Source: https://clutchpoints.com
