Anthony Davis slammed for allowing Kings center to dominate him

After the game, a pair of Lakers legends -- James Worthy and Robert Horry -- ripped into Davis for not matching Sabonis' energy level, pointing out how the Kings star grabbed nine more rebounds. 

"If you're not ready to compete with that, I don't care how talented you are, he's going to win those battles," Worthy said on Spectrum SportsNet, via FreeDawkins. "He's a big and strong guy and you have to be ready for that. I see that AD had 22 [points] and 10 [rebounds] but I don't remember that."

Horry paid homage to Domantas' father, Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis, while questioning Davis' inability to get physical in the paint. 

"He learned a lot from his dad," Horry said of Sabonis. "This guy is a student of the game. He's not the most athletic guy, but he's the sort of guy who's gonna beat you up and get position because he's strong. You [Davis] have to match that physicality with physicality."

Before Wednesday's game, there was a lot of talk of Davis finally overcoming his kryptonite. While Davis was fresh off a record-breaking performance against the Timberwolves, the Kings were playing the second night of a back-to-back, unlike the Lakers who had three days of rest. 

Yet, the Lakers didn't have an answer for the younger and more athletic Kings, who completed a 4-0 season series sweep of their division rivals. 

In a more worrisome sign for the Lakers, Sabonis isn't the only center giving Davis trouble. The Kentucky product is 1-7 in his career against Joel Embiid and 0-7 in his last seven games against Nikola Jokic. Simply put, Davis hasn't been able to bang with the NBA's elite bigs.  

That would likely explain why Davis was previously reluctant to play the center position.