Davis: Winless Lakers need to ‘stay even-keeled’

Coming off a 33-49 season in which they missed the playoffs and currently winless through the first week of the new campaign, the Los Angeles Lakers are on alert, Anthony Davis said Tuesday.

“Obviously, there’s some sense of urgency,” Davis said after practice. “You don’t want to dig yourself too big of a hole. But we’ve got to stay even-keeled. We can’t get rattled or flustered and things like that. Just like if we win 12 in a row. We don’t want to get too high.”

The optimistic stance from Davis echoed the sentiment he shared last season when, with the Lakers off to a 10-11 start in late November, he said, “we could go on a 10-game winning streak, 12-game winning streak, now the narrative is different.”

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L.A. did win six out of eight after that but never strung together a winning streak longer than four games last season.

Davis said the Lakers’ 0-3 start will steel them for better results as the season progresses.

“We think all this ‘adversity’ is going to be good for us,” Davis said. “We’re glad it’s happening in October and not March or April. But we’ll make shots, continue to defend how we’re defending and try to go in [Wednesday] and Friday and get a win.”

The Lakers are one of three winless teams this season, along with the Orlando Magic (0-4) and Sacramento Kings (0-3). They are embarking on a two-game road trip starting with the Denver Nuggets (2-2) and followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves (2-2).

L.A. ranks last in the league in 3-point percentage by a wide margin, shooting 21.2%, while the next-closest team, Minnesota, is shooting 28.7%.

“Down the stretch, our shot selection was very poor,” Davis said of the Lakers’ fourth-quarter execution in their loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. “We’ve got to get good shot selection.”

However, Davis pointed to the Lakers’ defensive commitment as an encouraging sign.

The Lakers are allowing 1.007 points per possession thus far, behind only the Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks, and also lead the league in steals with 11.3 per game.

“We’re continuously learning each other,” Davis said. “The good thing about is we’re playing defense, ranked third in the league in defense. In all the statistical categories, we’re top-10. We just got to keep pushing. Keep our head down and move forward with the mindset we’re going into Denver tomorrow to get a win.”

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