The LA Lakers were under the cosh when they lost the services of their talisman Anthony Davis, who suffered an Achilles Tendon injury last month. The Lakers suffered another huge blow as their legendary player LeBron James suffered an ankle sprain in his right leg while playing against Atlanta Hawks.
There is no doubt that any team will struggle to come up with winning results if two of their main players are out due to injury. However, the LA Lakers are known for their never-give-up attitude and they will do anything to defend their title.
In the last 10 matches, the Lakers have won six games despite the absence of their star players. Lakers registered their 34th win of the season against Charlotte Hornets as they won by 101-93 with Kyle Kuzma top-scoring with 24 points.
Andre Drummond, who was recently signed by the Lakers, also contributed with 12 rebounds. But the veteran could only score four points and admitted that it was the worst he has ever played offensively in his career.
Drummond added that the aim to win as many matches in the absence of Davis and James.
He said, “For a team that has so many people out right now and guys that are hurt, we’re still finding ways to pull together and win. It just shows the fight and grind that we have here… You can’t expect us to have much (offensive) chemistry when we don’t know who we’re playing with each and every night. We’re hanging our hat on defense and allowing that to take us to the wins.”
Lakers have worked hard on the defensive game and there isn’t a lot of difference. The Lakers had a defensive rating of 106.8 before LeBron and Davis’ injury whereas it is 105.2 after LeBron & AD’s injury. Thus, they still have the league’s best defense even without their two best defensive players.
The Lakers will next face Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
