Anthony Davis has been a success story in the NBA Playoffs 2020 so far. He perfectly complements LeBron James and the two have made for the most feared duo in the league as of now. The Lakers depend on them and when one of the two fails, the team trails.

The Lakers conceded their fourth defeat in the post-season and their first against the Miami Heat on Sunday. In the other three losses, AD scored at least 25 points (28 against Blazers, 25 against Rockets, 27 against Nuggets). Those defeats came because LeBron dropped firearms or because the bench failed. 

Anthony Davis on dealing with losses 

The story of the Game 3 loss against the Heat was different. This time around, AD was to be blamed because all he could manage was a score of 15. Even Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris had more points to their names after coming off the bench. 

After such a disastrous night, it was obvious that social media would boom with posts making fun of the lackluster show by the Lakers. But no amount of trolling could harm AD’s mental stability. In an interview, he detailed his mindset after taking such losses. The 6’10” forward revealed, “I’m not a social media guy. I don’t really be on it. I’m very disciplined. Especially after nights like last night, a lot of people get caught up in the news and social media and what everybody is saying. But I don’t really care about it too much. I want to see my coaches, I want to see my teammates because I know they’re going to tell me how to get better for the next game, prepare me the right way so I don’t have a repeat of last night.”

Clearly, AD has a no-nonsense attitude and prefers keeping his eyes and mind on just one thing – the NBA Championship.

What are the worrying areas for the Lakers’ star forward?

AD’s size helps him big-time with screening and blocking opponents from taking easy shots. However, this did not show up in Sunday’s game, which was plagued with miscommunication. He even had a handful of fouls in Game 3, something that happens very rarely for him. 

The areas of worry were AD’s lack of three-point shot attempts, his five turnovers, and a +/- of -26. These figures do not reflect the kind of player he usually is. AD was the runner-up of the NBA All-Defensive Team 2020, and the way his side left Miami players open to take easy shots was another dent.

On the whole, it’s a good thing that the Lakers are going through the films and working on correcting those errors without wasting time.