Thought Starter...
The momentum is gone.
The Lakers can’t quite decide what they are, or what they’re supposed to be.
On an emotional Monday night at the Crypt—in which the Lakers both honored the first responders and volunteers working tirelessly to gain full control of the wildfires still active around the city and care for those who have been displaced—LA started strong and faded hard. They were blown out over the second half 73-40 (and particularly in the fourth quarter, 37-13), getting sloppy with the ball and costing themselves far too many possessions... though it could be argued the Lakers didn’t do much with the opportunities they didn’t kick away.
Final score, 126-102. LA loses its third straight game.
The consistency simply isn’t there. And after a good run, the Lakers suddenly look a lot like the team that had everyone worried that a good record was mostly a mirage. The defense, betrayed on Monday by an inept, turnover prone offense, isn’t holding at the high level we saw after the NBA Cup layoff. The offense is easily compromised, lacking secondary ballhandling and playmaking. San Antonio made life very hard for LeBron James and Austin Reaves by putting extra pressure on the ball, particularly when only one of them was on the floor.
Getting Jarred Vanderbilt back, likely at some point next week, will help. But it’s not a cure all. JJ Redick is going to need to find other levers to pull, including potentially flipping Dorian Finney-Smith and Rui Hachimura in the starting lineup.
Good teams sustain good play for a month or two at a time, not just a week or two. The Lakers aren’t there yet, and need to find the formula to change that. First and foremost, they can tighten the mental focus required for them to play at a high level. But keeping the throttle down in that space requires a ton of energy.
Are they capable of bringing it game in and game out, for weeks on end? They haven’t yet.
At some point, the record really becomes a reflection of what you are, and right now, the Lakers are a team that on any given night can look excellent or get blown out by 25. That’s not going to get them far in the postseason.
—BK
More From This Episode...
—Why has the defense gone south?
—The Lakers have a problem with ballhandling and playmaking that the Spurs highlighted on Monday.
—COOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPP!!!!
—It’s time for JJ Redick to hit the button, and change the starting lineup.
