Lakers legend James Worthy has spoken my mind when he criticizes Darvin Ham for his bad decision against Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis only made one shot in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the Los Angeles Lakers' first-round game against the Denver Nuggets, which is very difficult to accept, and James Worthy thinks Darvin Ham should have designed a game for him.
Game 2 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets brought one of the biggest points of discussion when Anthony Davis took just one shot in the fourth quarter. Lakers legend James Worthy has commented on this, arguing that head coach Darvin Ham should have devised a game for Davis.
'Sometimes you can't just let the players on the pitch decide for themselves. Sometimes you have to plan tactics for him," Worthy said. “...... It's a pattern that hasn't been broken yet. ”
I understand Worthy's point there, but for me, it's up to Davis himself. As a superstar, you should have the responsibility to lead the team to victory, but he didn't do that here.
In Game 2, Davis had a strong first half, contributing 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. The 31-year-old shot 11-of-12 and by that point, he had completely outperformed the surging Nikola Jokic.
Davis also had a good start to the third quarter, and with his lead, the Lakers led by 20 points at one point in the quarter. With just over seven minutes left in the third quarter, he hit a shot that had reached 32 points and you expect him to end up scoring about 40 points.
Unfortunately, that's what it is.
In the following games, Davis only tried four shots, and all of them missed. In the fourth quarter, the nine-time All-Star didn't play much of a role on the offensive end.
This isn't the first time we've seen Davis in this situation against the Nuggets this season, with the first regular-season meeting between the two teams failing to score in the entire second half. Then in the last regular season meeting, Davis scored four points in the second half.
When that happens, the Lakers don't win the game. Fatigue may have played a role in this, but Davis still had to do better than that. He doesn't have to be great, but at least above average.
The Nuggets also made adjustments to Davis in the second half of Game 2, which seemed to have an impact on him. The Lakers star did a lot of damage to Jokic in the first half, and the Nuggets sent Allen Gordon to defend him in the third quarter.
Of course, Gordon is a better defensive player, and you'd think the Nuggets would let him play more against Davis and it would be interesting to see how things play out.
James Worthy thinks that the Lakers lack killer instinct, so many offenses are handed over to LeBron James, a 39-year-old man, it shouldn't be, the Lakers coach should design more tactics for young people, it's not that James doesn't want to play around young people.
After the game, Worthy was not only critical of Hamm, he was not too happy with the players. Worthy said the Lakers lacked killer instinct after losing Game 2 against the Nuggets.
"They lacked killer instincts, and in Game 2 of the playoffs, opponents scored easily and unprofessionally. ”
Worthy's remarks were rather scathing, and the Lakers should have blocked the game after leading by 20 points. In the third quarter, there were too many idling on the offensive end instead of stepping on the Nuggets' throat, and they brought their opponents back into the game and ended up paying the most hesitant price.
Thinking back to the past ten games when the Lakers played the Nuggets, they all lost, and I can only say: The Lakers coach is not good, and he is tired of the three armies.