Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James has vowed to bounce back stronger in the sixth game of the first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. James took the blame of the loss on his shoulders after they lost 116-99 on Wednesday night.
The 38-year-old missed 12 out of the 17 shots he attempted and feels he was not up to the mark in Game 5 of the series. Furthermore, Akron Hammer conceded five turnovers as he had a rare torrid day on the court.
“Tonight I was s—,” he said after No. 2-seeded Memphis made it 3-2 in their first-round series with the No. 7 Lakers. “I’ll be better in Game 6.”
On the other hand, while LeBron James struggled to make his shots, Anthony Davis was killing it. Davis scored 32 points and also contributed 19 rebounds and he said it’s time to lift James and be ready for the remaining matches. In fact, James had backed Davis when the latter wasn’t at his best in Game 2 of the series against Memphis.
“I had my head down and he was telling me to keep my head up. And I kind of just relayed that same message to him tonight,” Davis said. “‘You have the most points scored ever. You’re the best basketball player to ever touch the court.’
“So, it’s fine. He’ll be fine. He’ll adjust. He’ll get better. Our team will get better and Friday is another opportunity to close the series.”
Meanwhile, Davis played for 35 minutes but he is ready to play for the entire 48 minutes of the match if coach, Darvin Ham, needs him to do the job.
“I’m willing to play 48. This is what you play an entire season for,” Davis said. “So if Coach needs me to play 42, 45, 48, or whatever minutes to get the job done, I’ll be ready to do so.”
James wants to come up with a better overall performance in the next game of the series.
“Just got to be better,” James said. “It starts with me. Tonight I was not very good at all. My defense was pretty good. Offensively, I was not really good. So, we all got to do a better job helping one another.”
The sixth game of the series will be played on Friday night.
