National Basketball Association

The King's Concerns

Updated Aug. 19, 2020 11:53 a.m. ET

In Tuesday night's Game 1 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers couldn't throw a rock into the ocean.

The Purple and Gold shot 15.6% (5-for-32) from three, 35.1% (34-for-97) from the field, and 64.5% (20-for-31) from the line.

However, with 7:21 left in the game, LA held a 6-point lead, after LeBron James connected on his first three of the game.

So on Wednesday morning, Skip Bayless couldn't help but ask – what happened to James and superstar co-star Anthony Davis down the stretch?

"You are LeBron freakin' James. You gotta take it home ... Anthony Davis had already disappeared but he disappears in a lot of fourth quarters."

James and Davis, after dominating the first three quarters, struggled in the fourth, which Bayless believes is the main source of concern for the Lakers moving forward, above their shooting woes.

The Lakers only scored 18 points in the final frame – 7 of which came from James and 2 of which came from Davis.

However, James scored only 2 points in the final 7:21, and Davis' only bucket came at 1:35 mark of the fourth.

The superstar duo combined to shoot 4-for-7 from the field in the fourth quarter, but went 0-for-4 from the charity stripe, missing a pair of free throws on back-to-back possessions with a little over 4 minutes left in the game, a moment that didn't go unnoticed by Bayless.

"You missed four straight free throws by your two superstars? Bayless said. "It is a psychological crusher for your team."

On the night, James and Davis shot a combined 17-for-44 from the field and 1-for-10 from three, alarming statistics in the eyes of Shannon Sharpe.

"I know LeBron had a triple-double, he had 23 points. But it took him 20 shots to get those 23 points. AD had 28. It took him 24 shots to get those 28. For the first time, I believe the pressure bothered Anthony Davis."

After the game, James – who is now third in all-time playoff assists – was asked if he felt the normal passion and intensity that comes along with "Playoff LeBron."

"This is different. We're in a bubble with no fans. But as far as me being locked in on the gameplan? That doesn't change. Me going out and making plays, playing at a high level to try to help our team win – that was the same. It was the same me."

And Nick Wright, for one, isn't much worried about the King, seeing as how James posted the first player to post a 20-point, 15-rebound, 15-assist playoff games in the past 55 years.

"This idea that LeBron aged in quarantine was nonsense. He played a brilliant offensive game ... The Lakers lost last night for two reasons. One, they got punched in the mouth in the first quarter ... And the primary reason they lost is they didn't have a bad three-point shooting night. They had a historically awful three-point shooting night."

And despite Bayless' concerns with the Lakers performance last night, he still believes that Portland is not capable of overcoming James and Davis.

"It is time for them to impose their will psychologically on [Portland]."

The Lakers and Blazers will matchup again on Wednesday night, with the King and AD looking to even up a series that no one thought would be a cakewalk.

We'll see just how tough that walk might be come Game 2.