After two straight wins against the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans, the Los Angeles Lakers have proceeded to drop their next two games to drop to 2-7. In their latest loss, a 114-100 defeat at the hands of the scorching Cleveland Cavaliers, the Lakers managed to keep the game close, even leading by six at the halftime break. But they faltered in the end, struggling to score in the second half as Anthony Davis was limited to a mere two shot attempts after the halftime intermission.
LeBron James knows that such limited involvement from a player as crucial as Davis is unacceptable, and that they will look to do a better job of setting Davis up for both his and the Lakers' sake.
“Obviously, it starts with AD and getting him more touches,” James said after the game, per ESPN. “Our focal point is and always should be to make sure he touches the ball throughout the course of possessions, quarters, halves.”
According to Alex Regla of Silver Screen and Roll, Anthony Davis' usage rate drops by more than 10 percent across halves. In addition, his overall usage rate (22.8 percent), if it holds, will be the lowest since his rookie season.
Russell Westbrook, for his part, said that while he doesn't know who is to blame for Davis' lack of touches, he knows that his job on the court is to make the lives of each of his teammates, including Davis', easier.
“I'll leave it up to the coaches to figure out the best way for them to utilize him. [But] when I'm in, I do the best job I can in making reads, try to make the game easier for him when I'm in,” Westbrook said.
On the other hand, head coach Darvin Ham didn't hesitate to say that the responsibility is on the players' shoulders, primarily on LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, to involve Anthony Davis in more scoring actions. Ham also added that Davis could also call for the ball at whichever juncture of the game, more so when the Lakers are in desperate need of buckets.
“We have a playbook. We have a menu and a bunch of sets where AD can be featured. You have to just be organized. […] It's not like, ‘OK, you're just not calling plays for AD.' That's not the case,” Ham said. “But [AD]'s got my blessing to scream out, call his own number.”
It shall be seen whether the Lakers make a concerted effort to get Davis more shots as they face the Utah Jazz on Monday in a rematch of Friday night's clash.
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