Before Friday night, the Lakers hadn’t played two road regular-season games against the same opponent since 1965. The pandemic drove the NBA to create a more conservative travel schedule with consecutive road games in the same cities. Lakers officially announce Darvin Ham as head coach, prepare for introduction Manifest energy for yourself without the fans and things of that nature.” “You’re going to have to have games where you’re going to have to give energy to one another. It’s going to be a difficult season,” James said. It was a game when James acknowledged he felt the lack of fans drained the game of energy. He did make the most of his appearances at the stripe, going 7 for 7. After his final basket, James gestured to an official wanting a foul on Johnson - a continuation of a steady dialogue throughout the night.
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The Lakers were frustrated by a lack of whistles: They had 10 fewer free throw attempts than the Spurs. Even though the Spurs were without LaMarcus Aldridge for a second straight game, Johnson scored a team-best 26 points while DeMar DeRozan had 23.
The game was tied 15 times, with 21 lead changes. “Coach wants me to shoot at least five, average five, a game this year,” Davis said. Who can stop a 6-foot-10 forward with a reliable deep shot? The 3-point shooting is an aspect that the Lakers hope will continue to open up their already well-spaced offense. His 3-pointer to tie the game with 2:26 left started the closing rally, in which he also grabbed a key defensive rebound. The 27-year-old was 4 for 6 from deep, adding to his 11 rebounds and five assists for an effort that helped lift his team. James and Dennis Schröder in particular struggled for efficiency, scoring a combined 41 points on 37 shots.īut Davis had his best offensive game, and his range was the weapon that the Spurs could not counter. They were worse inside the arc (39.7 percent) than outside of it (42.4 percent). “You’re going to have some wins that are a little uglier than others.”Īfter a number of games in which they blew opponents away with on-target shooting, the Lakers slumped from the floor. “I think we just persisted through our struggles and that’s going to happen from time to time,” Vogel said.