Phoenix locked up Anthony Davis

Perhaps the biggest storyline from Game 1 in this series was how good of a job the Phoenix Suns did defending Anthony Davis. Not only did they swarm him everytime he had the ball in his hands, but you could tell based on Davis’ facial expressions that they fully took him out of this game both physically and emotionally. 

In 39 minutes, Davis finished the game with 13 points on 5-16 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks. Overall, AD finished with a +/- of -18, which was the worst plus-minus differential out of any player that took the court in Game 1. 

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For the Lakers to have any chance of not only winning this series, but repeating as champions, Anthony Davis is going to have to impose his will on the offensive-end of the court because this is not going to cut it for a guy who is supposed to be one of the top players in the entire NBA. 

Davis is going to have to try and find a way to work his way out of double-teams/traps and find ways to facilitate. He will get his opportunities to score, especially in transition off of turnovers, but if the Suns continue to trap him, then Davis needs to find ways to get his teammates involved. 

While he did not turn the ball over, Anthony Davis was pretty much a non-factor on the offensive-end of the court in Game 1 of this series. Phoenix deserves all the credit for taking Davis out of the game, but moving forward, the Lakers are going to have to make some adjustment to get their star player going or else they will be exiting the playoffs in the first-round.