“Quite simply, they made us the c …“. The laconic words of LeBron James to describe the entire Los Angeles Lakers Game-5, overwhelmed without appeal by the Phoenix Suns who tore them to pieces at first closed on +30. The hosts, also pushed by the 16,000 fans in the stands, have created a partial 16-0 in the first quarter and won the second half of the game 32-10, then maintaining the advantage for the entire recovery without ever taking risks. A success so sure that LeBron James, after trying the comeback by scoring 17 of his 24 points in the third quarter, with six minutes left to play took the path of the changing rooms together with Anthony Davis to start the treatments in view of race-6 as soon as possible. The defense of the title he won last year and his record of 14-0 in the first rounds of the playoffs is now in danger as never before: not only will the Lakers have to win Game-6, but they will also have to return to Arizona and take the Phoenix Suns Arena. They certainly won’t be able to do it by playing like they did tonight: in the first half Devin Booker alone scored more than all the yellow-violet holders (22-18); Phoenix took five more rebounds than the Lakers; the 8 turnovers of the guests led to 15 points for the hosts (who lost only 4 balls in the whole game) and the difference in shooting from outside was abysmal (3/15 for James and associates, 8/18 for Booker and his companions). Considering also the tremendous performance by Dennis Schröder (0 points and 0/9 shooting with only one assist), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (0 points in 15 minutes of clear difficulty with the sore knee) e the combined 3/18 of Alex Caruso, Wes Matthews and Ben McLemore, there is very little to be happy about.
LeBron: “I realize that Davis is not there for game-6”
deepening
Denver beats Lillard, Lakers overwhelmed, Nets ahead
The hopes of the Lakers fans are hold on to Anthony Davis, present in Phoenix to stay close to the team (even making himself heard during the timeouts) but whose presence in view of race-6 is far from obvious, thanks to the groin injury suffered in race-4 that changed the series. His condition will be evaluated until the very last second – even tonight his absence was announced only 30 minutes from the tap-off, although it was known that he would not be in the match – but LeBron James has already made it known how he intends to approach the game: “I will prepare as if AD were not there. Then if something changes we will fix it … but I realize there isn’t“. Certainly, regardless of whether Davis is present or not, there will be a need for a completely different approach by the yellows to avoid elimination. “We will soon find out what we are made of and how much we really want all of thisCoach Frank Vogel said when asked how his team will respond to the game-6 challenge. There are two days left and the pressure is all on the Lakers, who in the event of a defeat would become the sixth defending champions to be eliminated in the first round after the Sixers of 1984, the Spurs of 2000, the Heat of 2007, the Mavericks of 2012 and the Spurs of 2015.
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