National Basketball Association

Lakers look lost with Anthony Davis in street clothes

Updated Jun. 2, 2021 11:55 a.m. ET

Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer

LeBron James says he isn't panicking.

As he retreated to the locker room with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter of one of the Lakers' worst games of the year, a comforting thought played through his mind.

"They kicking our ass," James said. "But at the end of the day, it’s one game."

The four-time NBA champion has spent much of his 18-season career riding the undulating roller coaster of the postseason. He knows not to get too high or too low.

But after the Lakers' 115-85 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday, no amount of Zen can mitigate the truth.

Without Anthony Davis, the Lakers are in big trouble.

Davis missed Game 5 because of a strained left groin that he suffered Sunday in Game 4. Without him, the Lakers were lost and listless Tuesday. They trailed by 30 points at halftime and never recovered.

Now, the defending champions will face an elimination game Thursday at Staples Center. To avoid the embarrassment of flaming out in the first round, they'll have to win two games in a row against the Suns, who finished with the NBA's second-best record this season.

And they might have to do it without one of their best players, a tall task to say the least.

The Lakers' backs are against the wall, and the only person who can save them was helplessly watching Game 5 on the sideline, wearing a Kobe Bryant T-shirt. At halftime, TNT analyst Charles Barkley nicknamed Davis "street clothes," joking that he's always wearing them.

Davis, who has been notoriously injury-prone in his nine-season career, has had an especially tough stretch this season. He missed 30 games because of tendinosis and a right calf strain. He sustained a left knee sprain in Game 3. Then he suffered the groin injury three days later.

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Davis' status for Game 6 remains unclear. James, who has never been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in his 15 postseason appearances, is steeling himself for the worst-case scenario.

"My mindset is that he’s not gonna be able to play in Game 6," James said. "... If something changes, then we go from there. But I’m preparing as if he’s not."

James is one of the best players to ever play the game. But he's 36, and he needs help. He needs Davis attacking in the paint. He needs Davis' long arms to disrupt defenses.

Over and over again, James has put whatever team he has played for on his back and led them to the NBA Finals, including an eight-year stretch from 2010 to 2018.

But no matter how broad his shoulders, they can't bear the entire burden this time around. Now, they're being supported by a shaky right ankle that sidelined him for 26 games.

The Lakers need both James and Davis to knock out the youthful Suns. With only one of them, they're too frail to compete.

James is doing all he can from everywhere on the court as both a facilitator and a scorer. But Davis gives the Lakers their oomph.

Since a poor performance in Game 1, Davis has shined when he has been available. He had consecutive 34-point performances in Games 2 and 3, grabbing at least 10 rebounds in both contests.

Without him Tuesday, the Lakers couldn't generate any offense. Aside from James, who had 17 of his 24 points in the third quarter, no other starter scored in double figures.

Dennis Schroder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combined for as many points as Davis had from the bench.

Meanwhile, the Suns pretty much scored at will. In the first half, Devin Booker had 22 of his 30 points on nine-for-13 shooting. In that period, the Suns outshot the Lakers, 54.2% to 30.8%.

"This was a bad loss," said Markieff Morris, who had four points and one rebound. "I said when I came into the locker room, they're just disrespecting us. They're punching us, and we ain't punching back. That's how I felt all night."

Lakers coach Frank Vogel said that with or without Davis on Thursday, the Lakers need to be much more aggressive.

The Lakers' playoff lives depend on it.

"We’ll find out what we’re made of," Vogel said. "And we’ll find out how bad we want this."

The problem is if Davis is out, it might not be about desire.

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She has previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.