The first half of Lakers vs Suns Game 5 was total destruction as Phoenix’s lead quickly ballooned to 30 points. The story of the game was Anthony Davis out with injury again after a left groin strain. At halftime Charles Barkley said Lakers have no chance at winning without “street clothes”. When Ernie Johnson questioned him about the term it was revealed why Charles Barkley called Anthony Davis “street clothes”.
The reason behind the new disrespectful nickname should already be apparent to most people. Anthony Davis is always in street clothes, because he’s injury prone. Essentially Charles Barkley is saying Anthony Davis wears street clothes to Lakers games more than actual jersey. If being injury prone was a super power AD would probably be Superman.
Without “Street Clothes” Anthony Davis in the lineup Lakers lack of rim protection was exposed from the jump. Suns had 28 points in the paint, which was only 8 less points than Lakers put up in the entire first half. Devin Booker scored 18 points in the first two quarters, with many of those points coming in the paint area. Even Chris Paul was getting easy layups.
The strangest part about this game is how lackadaisical Lebron looks so far. He only had 7 points in the first half, and refused to get back on defense multiple times, which led to easy baskets for the Suns. It’s almost like he had already given up before the game started.
Hopefully Charles Barkley dubbing Anthony Davis “Street Clothes” motivates them to avoid elimination in Game 6 and 7. It would be crazy to see Lebron lose in the first round, regardless of the circumstances.
Author: JordanThrilla Staff