No team in the Western Conference has yet beaten the Cavaliers this season, who are a perfect 9-0 when they don’t face Eastern teams, since their four losses have come against Boston, Miami and Atlanta (twice). Anthony Davis and the Lakers can thus reassure themselves, after their setback against the best team in the league.
However, Los Angeles may have some regrets: the Californians were never too far behind, but never able to really take this match either. In short, so close, so far…
“We clearly had opportunities,” believes JJ Redick. “I firmly believe that against good teams like Cleveland, you have to get closer to perfection. They are not going to let themselves be beaten by shooting themselves in the foot. »
First hold on defense, the 3-pts will come later
By shooting at 39% success at 3-points, with 18 successes and only 11 lost balls, Kenny Atkinson’s players left few crumbs for the Lakers. Nevertheless, despite the lost balls at the start of the match and the clumsiness behind the arc (9/37), the Californians remained in the wheel of the Cavaliers.
“We have to defend. We could obviously shoot more from 3-point range, but the key will be our defense,” insists Anthony Davis. “If we don’t take more penalty shots, then we have to defend, which we’ve been doing lately. I don’t think we need more than 3-pts to be competitive against other teams. »
However, you have to take shots at one time or another, especially against a team like Cleveland who always has a winning shot to pull out of their hat. The Lakers had some good shots in this setback and can, once again, reassure themselves by saying that it will end up being successful.
“We are heading in the right direction,” ensures the interior. “This evening was good for us, we just missed tons of shots, open shots. If we score half, the match is no longer the same. So that suits me. We can do better on both ends of the pitch, that’s for sure, but I’m not disappointed with our situation right now. »
