Thought Starter...
It’s Cup Time!
Last season, the Lakers became the first team to win the NBA’s in-season tournament.
That means this year, they’re the first team to try and defend that title. Of course, while the in-season tournament (now the NBA Cup) was a much bigger success than most anticipated, fans certainly remember how much the Lakers struggled following the tournament. It was miserable, in part because LA clearly used a lot of energy to try and win the thing and it took a while to recover. So with their portion of the NBA Cup opening tonight in San Antonio against a quickly improving Spurs team featuring a red hot Victor Wembenyama.
But while Friday’s game will get the most attention, a very solid argument can be made that Saturday’s game in New Orleans is more critical. The Lakers, currently sitting at 7-4 in an extraordinarily crowded Western Conference, can’t afford to give any games away. The best teams in the conference will almost certainly dominate against sub-.500 teams. Teams that fall to the bottom of the playoff ladder wil almost certainly have given away some games they shouldn’t have.
A 2-0 weekend, where the Lakers play better, establish themselves as a competent road team, and add tons of optimism would be idea.
1-1, though, is the minimum.
Big Questions in this Episode:
1. Is it even possible for the Lakers to find center help over the next few weeks?
2. The Lakers need to win games to keep pace in the West. Should they push beyond the norm to try and defend their title?
3. What does a flat point differential say about the Lakers?
