LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis unloaded on the Lakers after Friday night’s 107-83 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves was largely determined by a third quarter in which his team was outscored 40-12.
“We sucked,” Davis said when asked about the third. “No defense. Can’t score. That’s not just this third quarter, it’s every third quarter we’ve played this season. We come out slow, lackadaisical offensively and defensively. We got to get it together. Why? I can’t tell you. But we got to do a better job.”
Including the mauling at the hands of Minnesota, the Lakers have been outscored by 83 points in the third quarter this season, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. It’s the worst points differential by any team in any quarter this season.
“We got to decide who we want to be. A championship team? That’s not us right now,” Davis said. “We’re not winning a championship the way we’re playing. We got to be better, and we got to care more for our wins at home. Wins in general. That was embarrassing.”
After taking a five-point lead into halftime, L.A. shot just 4-for-21 from the field (19%), including 1-for-13 from 3-point range (7.7%), in the third quarter with six turnovers. Meanwhile, the Wolves shot 15-for-24 overall (62.5%), including 7-for-13 from 3 (53.8%), with just three turnovers. They were led by Karl-Anthony Towns, who personally outscored the Lakers 18-12 in the quarter.
“The inconsistency is a problem,” Russell Westbrook said when asked about L.A.’s third-quarter woes.
Adding to L.A.’s letdown was the fact that the loss snapped a two-game winning streak that was supposedly sparked by a similar loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last weekend when the Lakers said they vowed as a team to play with better energy and effort moving forward.
“Well, there’s no better motivator…
Source : espn
