LeBron James, Lakers keeping the faith after blowout loss to Warriors

The best way to try to overtake the defending champion Warriors is to try to fight fire with fire.

At least, that seemed to be the theory of LeBron James after the Lakers dropped a 127-100 road decision to the Warriors in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Thursday. The series is now tied at 1-all, with the next two in Los Angeles.

“You got to keep scoring, get to the free throw line as well, or just get points in the paint,” James said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “They’re going to go on runs. That’s what they do. But you got to keep scoring, try to hold the fort down.”

For starters, the Warriors did a much better job defensively on Anthony Davis in Game 2, holding the Lakers’ star big man to 11 points and seven rebounds. This after a 30-point, 23-board eruption in Game 1. So Golden State turned up the defense.

Davis, of course, wasn’t willing to give the Warriors any credit. That’s OK. The great ones rarely do.

“I took all the same shots I took in Game 1. I just missed them,” Davis said, via McMenamin. “Elbow jumpers. Pocket passes to the floater. Same exact looks. Didn’t shoot a shot that I didn’t shoot in Game 1. Just missed them. That’s all.”

He then spoke confidently about what lies ahead.

“We’ll be better. I’ll be better making those shots,” Davis said. “We’ll get back home on our home floor and try to take care of business.”

As McMenamin noted, the Lakers have won 15 of their past 20 games overall. It’s not always pretty, but they have been a true contender since GM Rob Pelinka pulled off all those February trades.

The pieces around James and Davis now seem to fit. If they are to go down in this series, it will not be without a massive fight. Many predict they will emerge, given that they now own home-court advantage.

But they know it only gets tougher from here. They learned that firsthand on Thursday, when they trailed by 30 entering the fourth quarter.