Lakers superstar lights fire under team despite victory over Raptors: ‘Unacceptable’

Anthony Davis wasn’t jubilant after his Los Angeles Lakers picked up their fourth win of the season over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday evening.

Davis is a former 2020 NBA champion. He has accomplished a lot in the league. Winning is always desirable for a player of his caliber, and expected at this point in his career. That’s especially true against a rebuilding team like the 1-5 Raptors. But when his 4-2 Lakers allowed the Raptors to storm back from a huge early 45-19 deficit at the top of the second quarter and narrowly win by a score of 131-125, the Kentucky product made his displeasure known .

Lakers’ Anthony Davis fires up team and calls Raptors victory “unacceptable”

In his post-match interview on the field, Davis did not speak highly of the win, instead indicating that his high expectations for the team were not met, carrying with them expectations for this year’s championship. (h/t Ricardo Sandoval of Los Angeles Lakers on SI):

“Unacceptable. Yes, we won, and we will definitely get the win because it is hard to win in this competition, especially on the road, but we are still a long way to where we want to be,” said Davis.

“With such a big lead, which gives them 31 points, I think 31 in the second, 38 in the third, as if we are going to do something in terms of goals or ambitions this season, we cannot allow that defensively. ”

The Lakers were defeated in several departments by the Raptors in their last win

As a team, Los Angeles shot a disappointing 34.4 percent from three-point range. They allowed Toronto to beat them 44-43, outshoot them 35-29 and win the points in the paint battle by a 10-point margin.

The Lakers’ strong individual contributions helped them narrowly win

Individually, the Lakers once again got MVP-caliber play from Davis with a monstrous 38-point, 11-rebound double-double on 70 percent shooting from the field. He got help from his fellow starters as D’Angelo Russell notably emerged from his early-season slump with 19 points on 7-13 shooting from the floor, finishing a team-high plus 14 in the affair.

LeBron James had a classic performance of 27 points and 10 assists and Austin Reaves continued his breakout campaign with 20 points and six dimes of his own. However, they allowed Raptors star RJ Barrett to erupt for 33 points and 12 assists and guard Gradey Dick to drop 31 points of his own, all without franchise player Scottie Barnes in the lineup.

The Lakers will try to resolve the issues in the next game against the Pistons

So, the Lakers will take the win, as Davis said, but against a team that should have been put away without a chance of return, plus coming by with a six-point win offers equal parts concern and encouragement. The Lakers have a major bench scoring problem that still needs to be addressed. Their second unit combined to score 18 points in this match, and as a whole the team has been through ups and downs despite looking like real title contenders on their best day.

They’ll look to get a superlative win behind Davis in brighter fashion when LA next takes on the rebuilding Detroit Pistons on Monday night.