The game itself wasn't the biggest loss for the LA Lakers, Anthony Davis was forced to miss the entire second half due to an injury.
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The Los Angeles Lakers dropped Game 4 of their best of seven NBA play-offs series against the Phoenix Suns 100-92. The biggest loss for Los Angeles in Game 4 was Anthony Davis. He was forced to miss the entire second half after suffering a strained left groin.
That was fun but…
WE AIN’T DONE! #RallyTheValley ????????. pic.twitter.com/Cdu6odZS3B
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) May 30, 2021
With Game 5 of the NBA play-offs scheduled for Tuesday, Davis will not have much time to recover from the injury. This could be a big sign of worry for the Lakers; the Suns dominated the third quarter and never looked back. The Suns rode a balanced offensive effort as six players scored in double figures for the Suns.
LeBron James did all that he could to get Lakers back into the game during the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 25 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. James just didn’t have enough assistance from the Lakers’ supporting cast in order to overcome the deficit. Should Davis not be available for Game 5, it could take a superhuman effort from LeBron to avoid falling into a 3-2 series deficit.
From the moment Paul got injured in Game 1 through the end of Game 3, he didn’t attempt a single 3. Paul physically couldn’t generate enough lift on his shot to do so.
He attempted to drill three-pointers in game 4, which is a good sign that his shoulder is better than it was, but he missed all of his shots. He was making the cross-court passes that he couldn’t even try earlier in the series.
Those are shots players can only make consistently with a fully functioning shoulder, and Paul looks about as close to that as the Suns could’ve asked for.
Point God. pic.twitter.com/p7X8cpXkRG
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) May 30, 2021
When Davis went down, Frank Vogel the head coach of Lakers had to improvise. Both Markieff Morris and Montrezl Harrell did not feature much in this series.
Both got a run when Davis got hurt. The Lakers might have to continue to get creative with their rotation if they hope to keep this series goes.
There is a combination of players somewhere on this roster that can beat the Suns. Now it’s up to Vogel to find it.
