After finishing in the seventh position of the West, the Lakers faced off against a red hot Golden State Warriors in the play in tournament. Despite having all of their superstars, the champions had their fair of share of struggles against the Warriors, and it took a massive LeBron James game winner for the Lakers to clinch the seventh seed in the West.

The Lake Show will now face the second seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs and will have to put on a better display if they want to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

Anthony Davis reacts to Steve Kerr’s comments during the Lakers vs Warriors Play-in game

While the Lakers won the play-in game against the Dubs, it wasn’t without its struggles. Their superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis especially, had pretty mixed games.

While LBJ put on an all round clinic with a 22 point triple double, Davis, on the other hand, had a decent stat line of 25 points along with 12 rebounds against the Dubs.

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But the first half was terrible for AD. Playing as the power forward for the champions, Davis couldn’t attack the rim with Andre Drummond crowding the lane. With Draymond Green defending him, Davis played a perimeter based game forcing him to miss multiple shots.

Given how lackluster the Lakers looked in the first half, Steve Kerr led Warriors felt confident. After taking a 28-22 lead over the champions, Kerr spoke to his team being locked in and having more belief than the Lakers. Anthony Davis reacted to the same recently. Commenting on a social media post, Davis ridiculed Kerr’s comments with a laughing emoji, take a look.

Despite the Warriors dominating the first half and taking a 13 point lead, the champions came back stronger in the third quarter. Playing with AD as the five, the Lakers brought in defenders like Wesley Matthews and Alex Caruso to the game.

With some tenacious defending and the Warriors having multiple unforced turnovers, the Lakers made a resounding comeback and ultimately won the game 103-100.

What next for the champions?

While Andre Drummond brings excellent rebounding and decent rim protection, he clogs up the lane forcing players like Davis and LeBron to take up shots from the perimeter.

The Lakers have to figure out their ideal line-up for the postseason as soon as possible. While they face a Suns side lacking significant experience, Phoenix have had a set starting five who have incredible chemistry.

Frank Vogel will expect LeBron James and Anthony Davis to find some much needed consistency if they want to repeat as champions. Can the Lakers address their issues in time or will the lack of playtime ultimately cost them a chance of a repeat? Let us know in the comments section down below.