Lakers News: Anthony Davis Talks Current Starting Lineup
New Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham went small in the backcourt for his first regular season starting five last night, during an unimpressive 123-109 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Ham opted to shift both 6'9" LeBron James and 6'10" Anthony Davis up a position, as he had occasionally during the team's six preseason contests, to power forward and center, respectively. For the team's nominal starting point guard, Ham chose Russell Westbrook, who has never been a great fit alongside Davis and James as a non-floor spacer and relatively disinterested off-ball cutter.
Ham paired Russ with 6'1" Patrick Beverley to complete L.A.'s starting backcourt, instantly ceding five inches and 25 pounds to his charge, 6'6" sharpshooter Klay Thompson. At small forward, Ham went with 6'4", 204-pound Lonnie Walker IV, three inches shorter than All-Star Warriors small forward Andrew Wiggins.
Beverley barely played alongside the starters, getting whistled for four quick fouls do to his aggressive and handsy defensive approach. But without or without Mr. 94 Feet, L.A. looked thoroughly outclassed by a keyed-in Warriors team, which used a 32-19 third quarter to fully separate itself from the Lakers.
After the game, Davis reflected on the Warriors' epic third frame, as well as the starting five's struggles together.
"They're... the best third-quarter team, well they were last year," Davis acknowledged. "They come out and try to take a lead in the third quarter." Davis also echoed James's statement after the game about their team's woeful three-point night (they went 10-for-40 from deep overall). "We shot [terribly] from three tonight, had 21 turnovers... We had some great looks from three, we just missed and they made a lot of their shots in the third quarter. And that's what they do, that's how they get that separation."
In terms of the starting lineup, here's a transcript featuring some key bullet points from among AD's thoughts:
"I don't think [Russell Westbrook] was ever out of [the starting lineup], I think it was just a look... I think we played well. We not to come out and make sure [that everybody is] aggressive... Pat [Beverley] got in early foul trouble so [it] messed up rotations and certain things we wanted to do... Obviously you want to get that starting lineup group and get that cohesiveness, foul trouble kind of changed that, changed the rotations. I think they all did well. I mean, obviously Me, and 'Bron and Russ have had some games together, when you throw Pat and Lonnie in there... we're still trying to figure it out. All of us together, us five haven't had enough time together."
Starting with such a size disparity in the backcourt is not the way forward for Los Angeles. Kendrick Nunn has quietly put together a very encouraging preseason and first contest (he was L.A.'s only non-AD/LBJ/Westbrook scorer in double digits last night), and remains a reliable long range option. This writer had previously wanted Beverley to start as the team's lead guard, but if Beverley performs as poorly as he did last night over the course of the next few weeks, Nunn may be the solution at the point.
