Anthony Davis returns to form, but Lakers still lose to Washington.
Forward scores 26 points in loss to Wizards that completes a 1-3 trip.
Anthony Davis sat on the Lakers’ bench for a few seconds after they had lost to the Washington Wizards, his head down and his hands crossed.
When the Lakers forward eventually got up, the sting of a 116-107 defeat resonated with Davis as he walked back to the locker room at Washington’s Capital One Arena.
It was his fourth game back after missing 30 because of a strained right calf, and it was his best game on the four-game trip.
But Davis’ 26 points weren’t enough to prevent a defeat that gave the Lakers a 1-3 record on the trip.
Davis’ 10-for-20 shooting, two-for-five on three-point attempts, five rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot couldn’t stop the Lakers from dropping their fifth game in seven outings.
“Just that we let it get away,” Davis said about his thoughts after the game. “I think our second quarter kind of just killed us. We didn’t play with any pace. Our defense was pretty poor and then coming out in the third quarter, kind of the same thing. I think our effort wasn’t there in the third quarter as well.”
The Lakers couldn’t slow down Washington’s dangerous backcourt of Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, who combined for 45 points.
Westbrook notched 18 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists, and Beal had 27 points.
And now the fifth-seeded Lakers (36-26) have only a 11⁄2-game lead over the sixthseeded Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference.
“The other team is playing in a desperate situation,” Davis said. “We control our own destiny. So, we have to start playing with a sense of desperation. Even though we are in the playoffs as of right now, we’re not that far off from being in a play-in game. So, we got to play with a sense of desperation.”
The Lakers fell into a 16point hole in the third quarter, their offense in another drought and their defense almost nonexistent.
And it got only worse for the Lakers in the fourth, their defense so poor that they let Westbrook throw a length-of-the-court pass to a wide-open Ish Smith for a two-handed dunk that gave the Wizards a 98-79 lead.
“We just allowed them to get in a rhythm,” Andre Drummond said after scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. “That’s all it was. They’ve been playing well, won the last eight out of nine, so they got a really good rhythm going. We didn’t do a good job of turning the water off.”
The Lakers called a timeout with nine minutes 11 seconds left, hoping that would stop them from reeling.
But they got down by 19 points in the early in the fourth quarter before making a run that got them as close as nine points.
Davis was moved to the center spot in the fourth, which allowed the Lakers to make a move.
He had 14 points on fivefor-eight shooting and two for four on three-pointers in the final quarter.
It was a new look Lakers coach Frank Vogel wanted to try to get Davis back in some sort of rhythm.
“I think it helped,” Vogel said. “He’s obviously in this phase of trying to get his legs back under him, obviously trying to get his timing.
“We got down 19 at that point [and] you try to make something happen and I think there was two benefits there — one to try to get AD some easier looks to continue to get him in rhythm. You get down 19, you try to change the game, which is what we were looking for. And we were able to make some mini-runs, but they hit some big shots down the stretch to hold on.”
Doesn’t matter how many points Paul George has scored this month.
Until the Clippers take down the Lakers in a postseason series, George will be the player who spectacularly misfired a corner three-pointer on one of the worst nights in franchise history.
And they’re still the team that blew a three-games-toone lead.
Doesn’t matter the Clippers remain in third place in the Western Conference after a 109-101 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday or how many games they’re ahead of the Lakers.
Until they reach the NBA Finals, the Clippers will be, well, the Clippers.
On its own, their track record presents formidable obstacles. The team’s health is threatening to make it insurmountable.
Which made coach Tyronn Lue’s pregame update on the sidelined Kawhi Leonard particularly disconcerting.
Basically, there was no update.
Asked when Leonard could return, Lue replied, “I’m not sure.”
Words continued to come out of Lue’s mouth, but most of them were designed to obfuscate.
“I know he’s feeling good,” Lue said. “He’s been able to get on the court and do some workouts here and there. Not quite sure when he’s going to return. We thought possibly some time on this trip, but that wasn’t the case.”
So, yeah, Lue sounded uncertain.
Leonard has been limited to one game in nearly three weeks — 23 minutes in a win over Minnesota on April 18 — with what the Clippers have described as a sore right foot.
Whatever the actual diagnosis, it’s clear the injury has lingered longer than they expected.
Who knows how Leonard’s foot will hold up in a condensed postseason schedule?
The Clippers entered Monday with a 6-2 record in games they played without Leonard this month. But they lost their only game in that stretch against a top opponent, the Philadelphia 76ers.
And they lost again Monday when they visited the second-place team in the West. They trailed the entire game, falling behind by 14 in the second quarter and trailing at the half by 10.
Behind a 28-point, 10assist performance by Chris Paul, the Suns secured their first postseason berth since 2010. George played a wellrounded game, collecting 25 points, 10 rebounds and three steals, but didn’t have enough help.
With Leonard in their lineup, the Clippers won their two previous meetings with the Suns.
The triumphs were important, not only because they were against a potential conference final opponent, but because of the very nature of the games.
They were intense. They were heated. And when they were pushed by the Suns, they pushed back.
The Clippers didn’t look like the same team that rolled over and played dead for the Denver Nuggets in that humiliating playoff series last year.
The difference in George was noticeable.
In this bounce-back season for the All-Star, his performance in January in Phoenix was especially memorable.
George scored 39 points, and when he was fouled with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, he stared down the player toppled over him, Cam Payne.
He exchanged words with Devin Booker, as teammates held him back.
Later, George made it sound as if he was upset by Suns players mentioning his postseason failure.
“I was talking to the ref, [Paul] jumped in and it escalated from there,” George told reporters after the game. “… There was never any altercation, there was always peace when I am on the floor but for whatever reason, there’s a lot of chirping and people just living in the past.
This was a new George, one who wasn’t in denial about his reputation as a postseason choker.
“And it’s the reason I came into this year focused,” George said. “I heard all the noise and I use all that noise for motivation.”
Regardless of what kind of shape Leonard is in, the Clippers will enter the playoffs with questions about their fortitude, about their ability to make plays in important moments.
At the moment, they have a more serious problem.
And unless they solve it, unless Leonard is healthy enough to perform like an All-Star again, George and Clippers won’t even have the chance to prove how much they have changed.