Anthony Davis says the Lakers feel ‘pressure’ to beat the Bucks after losing to the Warriors

After a fairly easy start to the season, the Los Angeles Lakers will see some stiff competition in the second half of their January schedule and they got a little taste of what’s to come for them in their game against the Golden State Warriors on Monday.

While the Warriors are just hovering over .500, they have a superstar talent in Steph Curry, a defensive mastermind in Draymond Green and a supporting cast of players with something to prove. The Lakers seemed unfazed by that in the first half, when they led by as much as 19 points, but they couldn’t stop the run the Warriors went on in the second half and lost 115-113.

Now, with the 9-5 Milwaukee Bucks next on their schedule, the Lakers want to lock in and prove they’re as good as their record suggests.

“We know we’re a good team,” Anthony Davis said on Monday. “We know that teams are going to come out and play their best against us. But the way we lost, we don’t like. Obviously we have to look back at the film and see where we can be better, but we’ve always bounced back. We don’t like losing two in a row, so our next game, we’re going put a lot of pressure on ourselves to win that game.

“Nobody in that locker room likes to lose. It’s a tough one. It’s one that we for sure should have won, so this one hurts a little more, but we’ll watch the film when we get back together and try to figure out how to get better and get ready for Milwaukee.”

The Lakers prided themselves on not losing two in a row last year, too, and they ended the season having only lost two more consecutive games three times. Their longest losing streak was four games.

If the Lakers lose to the Bucks on Thursday, it will mark their first back-to-back loss of the young season, and their first back-to-back loss since August 8. Obviously they’ll be hoping to avoid that, but the Bucks are also coming off of a loss and will be looking to redeem themselves. And what better way to bounce back than to beat the team you were supposed to play in the NBA Finals last year?

Suffice to say, Thursday should be a fun one.

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