On April 2, Beijing time, Davis made a comeback in the game between the Lakers and the Pelicans, which was his first NBA game in many months since his injury. In this game, Davis played well in the first three quarters, he became the team's offensive strength in the game, and the interior finishing efficiency was also very good. However, in the final quarter of the game, Davis's state declined, the data shows that throughout the fourth quarter, Davis only got 4 points in 5 shots, four mid-range jump shots were lost, in the defense of the opponent's core interior line Varland, Davis was also hit by the opponent, Varan final quarter 3 shots all 3 shots to get 9 points and 3 rebounds of the data, performance efficient. And Davis in the key moment, he missed two shots, but also by Varan foul, the score was also instantly pulled apart, at the critical moment Davis performance is very crotch, the Lakers lost the game, Davis needs to bear a certain responsibility.
From a personal point of view, Davis's first performance after his return was not bad, he played 37 minutes, 8 of 17 shots with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, and played very well in all aspects. But if the fans who have watched the game believe that they can see that Davis now lacks competitiveness, does not play tough enough in the game, likes to finish in the middle and long distance positions, although his shooting efficiency is not high, he will still choose to shoot. In this game, Davis jumped 3 of 12 and was very inefficient. When the score was glued, Davis still chose to shoot in mid-range, and his poor shooting choice also caused the team to be instantly widened by the opponent.
And the most disappointing thing is not Davis's offense, but his performance on the defensive end. We all know that Davis used to be the league's top interior defender, his defensive coverage is large, and he has a long enough arm span to interfere with any player, and he is also known as a player who can defend from the No. 1 position to the No. 5 position.
However, in this game, we did not see Davis's elite level of defensive performance, on the contrary, his defense had a lot of mistakes, allowing Varan to easily play an efficient performance on the inside, and when Ingram and CJ broke through to the basket, Davis could not play a role in assisting the defense, on the defensive end, Davis's presence was not strong, personal attention was not concentrated, there were a lot of leaks, and the performance was very sluggish.
Before this game, many people were looking forward to Davis's return to save the Lakers, help the team win this crucial game, and impact the playoffs. However, from this game, it turns out that Davis does not have the ability to save the Lakers, his comeback is not very helpful to the team, and now Davis is compared to when he first joined the Lakers, his state will decline significantly, and he does not have the ability to play a dominant level at both ends of the attack and defense.
Since winning the championship, Davis has not only not improved himself further, he has also experienced a significant decline, not as good in all aspects as before. As for Davis' current state, the Lakers want to rely on him to impact the playoffs, which is not too realistic, and the Lakers' prospects for this season's playoffs are not very optimistic.