Thought Starter...
Ouch.
In the Western Conference, teams that don’t close games they were in position to win will feel it in the end.
That’s certainly what happened to the Lakers on Thursday night. To be sure, the visiting Orlando Magic, even without its star (Paolo Banchero) and playing shorthanded beyond that (no Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, no Wendell Carter, Jr.) still represented a challenging opponent. To their credit, the Magic have played quite well of late, winning six of seven coming into the game.
But the Lakers had a lead at the half, and leads down the stretch. They missed six fre throws in the fourth quarter.
They didn’t collapse, they didn’t overlook their opponent. It wasn’t anything egregious... but it was a game the Lakers should have won.
And it also, in the process, it was a reminder that the six-game win streak the Lakers were sporting heading into Thursday’s matchup didn’t erase some of the shortcomings that reared their collective heads during, say, the unsuccessful first road trip of the season. The Lakers were hammered on the glass, for example. They got precious little from the bench, outside D’Angelo Russell... who wasn’t exactly efficient (3-10 overall, 1-7 from 3-point range). On a night where LeBron James and Anthony Davis combined for 70 points on robust percentages (26-44), the Lakers didn’t need a ton from the supporting cast, yet they still didn’t clear the bar.
Why? Austin Reaves, for starters, was awful, playing arguably his worst game of the season. Gabe Vincent, Christian Koloko and Max Christie combined for three shots (all from Christie). Not enough.
So were the Lakers “exposed” on Thursday? Hardly. Was it a reminder of the work left to do, and the shortcomings the team has, despite the winning? Absolutely. And it’s one they’ll surely wish they had back.
Overheard On This Episode...
1. “The six game win streak is dead. The Lakers had an opportunity to keep it going and couldn’t close the deal.”
2. “Mo Wagner had 19 points off the bench. The Lakers had 14 points off the bench. As a team like. And this has been an issue throughout the season.”
3. “This was as bad of a game as Reeves has played probably this season. And in a while. Like, Reeves was a kind of a train wreck on both sides of the ball.”
