National Basketball Association

Anthony Davis takes the blame after Los Angeles Lakers lose Game 1 to Phoenix Suns

Updated May. 24, 2021 5:48 p.m. ET

Anthony Davis fell on his sword after losing Game 1.

The Los Angeles Lakers ' big man didn't hold back in his postgame news conference, taking "full responsibility" for his team's 99-90 loss in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns.

Davis' final stat line wasn't pretty.

"The Brow" managed just 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting ⁠— a 31.3% clip ⁠— and grabbed seven rebounds in the contest.

Those 13 points tied a playoff career low for Davis and were the fewest he has ever scored in a losing postseason effort.

A standout playoff debut from opposing Suns big man Deandre Ayton further magnified Davis' struggles, as Ayton dropped 21 points and 16 rebounds.

If the calf injury that limited Davis to 36 games in the regular season is at the root of the issue, Davis isn't using it as an excuse.

Either way, his performance was enough for Brandon Marshall of "First Things First" to joke about putting out an all-points bulletin for the missing superstar.

Worse, Marshall doesn't see Davis ⁠– based on his inconsistency all season ⁠– bouncing back in a big way to help the Lakers.

"I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel," Marshall said. "… The dude, since returning from his Achilles injury, is [shooting] 18% from the 3-point line. This dude is having an awful year, and you don't usually see this from superstars. You'll see this from midtier guys. … So the Lakers should be worried."

ESPN's Jay Williams expressed similar frustrations with Davis.

As Williams explained, the Lakers whiffed on an opportunity to send the young Suns an early message.

"When you're playing against a team like the Phoenix Suns, a young basketball team, you know what you do? You come out right away in the opening minutes of the game, and you put your foot on their neck," Williams said. "… I want to see Anthony Davis with 16 rebounds. I want to see Anthony Davis with 42 points like he had in their original meeting when they first played."

Davis does have big-game potential in him, especially against the Suns.

As Williams mentioned, Davis erupted for 42 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in the Lakers' previous meeting with the Suns earlier in May, albeit at home and on the regular-season stage.

As for the playoffs, Shannon Sharpe said on Monday's episode of "Undisputed" that while Davis could stand to improve, there's plenty of blame to go around in L.A.

To Sharpe's point, LeBron James didn't exactly light up the Suns, either.

"The King" finished with a team-high 18 points and 10 assists, but he was held to three points in the fourth quarter.

Which direction should Lakers head coach Frank Vogel look in search of a fix?

Nick Wright's plan involved forcing Davis to be more active down on the block at the expense of Andre Drummond.

"There are some significant changes they must make immediately," Wright said. "… Andre Drummond, goodbye. Alex Caruso, hello."

If you look back to the 2020 playoffs, there's another reason for optimism among Lakers fans.

In Los Angeles' first-round matchup last year, Davis caught the bulk of the blame for a Game 1 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers after shooting 33.3% from the field for 28 points.

For the rest of the postseason, which culminated in a title for the Lakers, he averaged 58.8% from the field and 27.7 points in 20 games played.

Whether Game 1 in 2021 was another blip or something more permanent will begin to be determined Tuesday when the series resumes in Phoenix.

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