Lakers Are 'Going to Have a Chance' If Anthony Davis Returns From Injury, Vogel Says
Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel says the team still has a chance to turn its disappointing season around if Anthony Davis returns by the playoffs.
"If [Anthony Davis] is able to come back and we catch the right matchup or catch a team at the right time and if we're able to catch fire at the right time, we're going to have a chance," Vogel told reporters Wednesday.
The Lakers have lost six of their last seven games to drop to 27-34. They are 4.5 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for eighth place in the Western Conference and would have to win a pair of play-in games to make the playoffs if the season ended today.
Davis has not played since suffering a mid-foot sprain in a Feb. 16 win over the Utah Jazz. He's expected to miss several more weeks, and no timetable has been given for his return.
The absence of Davis has left LeBron James essentially on an island, with the Lakers' supporting cast proving to be little more than a miscast group of past-their-prime veterans. James and Russell Westbrook have developed little on-court chemistry, and Vogel has taken to benching Westbrook when he is ineffective.
"We still have games to play," James told reporters Tuesday when asked if he was giving up on the season. "Until you stomp me out, cut my head off, bury me 12 feet under, then I got a chance. So that's my confidence."
James, Davis and Westbrook have played only 20 games together, in large part because of injuries. The Lakers are 11-9 in those games—a vast improvement from their overall record—but still not anywhere near championship contention.
Major changes are expected in the offseason, with Westbrook almost certain to be shopped and Vogel's job likely on the line. Only a miracle—one that comes in the form of Davis finding his 2020 bubble form and Westbrook taking a time machine to 2017—can save this sinking ship.
