After almost two months of struggling to string together a winning streak, the Los Angeles Lakers have finally won three games in a row, looking to make it four. The Lakers will be taking on the Denver Nuggets in their next matchup. This upcoming contest had former NBA champion turned analyst Kendrick Perkins sharing his two cents on the Lakers squad, giving Anthony Davis a brutal reality check.
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On the latest episode of ESPN’s NBA Today, Kendrick Perkins broke down what the Los Angeles Lakers need to do to make it to the playoffs and further. And the pressure comes down to none other than Anthony Davis.
“This team is going to go as far as Anthony Davis takes them. We know what LeBron is going to bring but it’s unfair to put that kind of pressure on him. But we saw last year what happened when they got swept by the Denver Nuggets. I mean, Jokic kicked his a**, Anthony Davis. Kicked his a**.”
Kendrick Perkins did make a valid point about Anthony Davis leading the Los Angeles Lakers squad. At 39 years of age, LeBron James is still doing the best he can to help the team out on offense. But now, it has to be Davis becoming the team’s primary option on offense if the team hopes to make a deep playoff run.
The Los Angeles Lakers were swept at the hands of the Denver Nuggets in last year’s Western Conference Finals. Anthony Davis came off strong in the first game but was equally matched by Nikola Jokic.
Davis’ production fell off in the team’s second game while Jokic kept up his triple-double performance. By the time Davis could take over, the Lakers were already down badly and the Nuggets had eliminated any hopes LA had of making a comeback.
Coming back to Kendrick Perkins’ analysis, the Lakers do need Anthony Davis to step up on the offensive end of the floor. LeBron James will continue to bring what he does to the table but AD has to switch things up if the Lakers hope to make it to the postseason.
When healthy, Anthony Davis can be a force of nature. AD can be effective both on offense and defense. Currently, LeBron James is still the team’s leading scorer with a 24.9 PPG average while AD is only a few points behind. Now with the second half of the season about to be underway, Davis may need to double down and bring his point production up to prepare for the playoffs.
Can Anthony Davis surpass Nikola Jokic?
Anthony Davis’ skills on the court ended up mesmerizing many analysts around the NBA. Not just analysts but former NBA players and legends too saw what Davis could do and expected him to flourish as he should.
During last year’s Western Conference Finals, Inside the NBA’s co-host, Shaquille O’Neal was not happy with AD’s performance in the latter games of the series against the Denver Nuggets.
Not just Shaquille O’Neal but former NBA legend and Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett too had high expectations from Anthony Davis going into this season. While on his podcast, KG revealed the things he expected from The Brow for the next two years.
“Anthony Davis can do everything they can do. Anthony Davis can do everything Joker can do, he can do everything Embiid can do. I’m expecting him to be MVP if not this year, definitely next year.”
For this year, Anthony Davis has been averaging 24.7 PPG, 12.3 RPG, and 2.4 BPG so far. He was also selected for his 9th All-Star appearance this year. The Lakers forward has been more active on defense as opposed to offense this year, ranked fifth on the list of players leading the league in blocks.
Davis has been the team’s anchor on defense but according to Perkins, he needs to be the team’s primary option on offense as well. Let’s see if fans get to see AD switch it up in the second half of the season for the Los Angeles Lakers.
