Lakers: Anthony Davis Has Better Second Half Vs Mavericks

Davis' play has been concerning.

Over the past two weeks, Anthony Davis has gotten a lot of criticism from Laker fans and pundits. Even Charles Barkley dragged Davis most recently for his play. 

To defend Davis is pretty easy. From a numbers standpoint, he has still been effective, if not a top player in the NBA. Averaging 24 and 10 with two blocks is a stat line any franchise would give a lot of money and draft picks to acquire. I have defended Davis' play through such criticism for weeks. In the first half last night, Davis' play was concerning, however. In the second half, Davis played better and was big for LA down the stretch. 

Davis finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. While Davis' slow start could have been from rust after missing a few games, he discussed his own adjustments. 

I just adjusted to their defensive schemes against me. They were doubling every time I caught the ball in the post and when we threw a little pocket pass, another defender was right there in my lap so I couldn’t get the shot up. But just figuring out their schemes throughout the course of the game, figuring out ways to beat them and to get shots. Talking with Bron, Russ and Do, Melo, just figuring out ways to keep the ball moving and get some good looks. I was able to get that in the third quarter, got going and then in the overtime made some shots. But just trying to figure out their scheme, obviously we know J. Kidd and what he likes to do so we knew he was gonna throw some stuff at us and we were able to defeat it and look at all the reads we had on the offensive end and pick it apart.”

Speaking of missing games, the idea that Davis' was out of sorts after missing a few games is also plausible. Davis played 39 minutes, which is a lot after missing a few games due to a knee injury. For his part, Davis said the knee was not an issue. 

“Knee feels fine. I was trying to get the soreness out to be ready to play, but it’s fine. Some treatment and rehab and I was ready to go tonight.”

If the Lakers are going to make a deep playoff run, they'll need Davis at his best. The amount of criticism Davis receives may come from the fact that he is an elite player, and is judged like one. The Lakers will need his best if they are going to go deep into the playoffs.