Lakers with Another Disastrous Game
Last night was yet another example given to us by the Los Angeles Lakers of how not to end the final minutes of a game when you have an advantage. Forced shot after forced shot, not a clear game plan, only one-on-one basketball gave them another painful loss against Damian Lillard and the Trailblazers.
Speaking of Lillard, it was that kind of night for him. Scoring 41 PTS, to go along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists, on 60% FG, including a clutch three to go up by 2 in the final 13 seconds of the 4th quarter. He showed us another glimpse of “Dame Time” throughout the whole night, getting baskets from all over the place.
But, even though he had a great game, it was the Lakers’ game to lose, as they were up by 7 points with 1:56 left to play. It all looked that it will go in their favor, but some bad decisions from Lebron James and Russell Westbrook followed by a miss with lots of seconds left on the shot clock, gave Portland a chance to comeback and steal away a win. And they made the best of that occasion, firstly by Lillard, who hit a clutch three, then by Jerami Grant, who drove by the Lakers defense and hit a contested lay-up to give them a 2-point advantage with 3 seconds left.
It was pretty hard to comprehend how LA lost that game, and it should raise a major concern for their future, because if you can’t finish a game up by 7 with 1:56 left, against a slightly modest team (compared to the other great teams in the West), then what do you expect from this season?
Their defense is very bad, their perimeter shooting, which is no longer a secret, is well under the decent parameters, their bench is weak, unreliable. Let’s have a look on the 3pt attempts: James (2-for-9), Lonnie Walker IV (1-for-5), Davis (0-for-3), Russell Westbrook (0-for-3), Kendrick Nunn (0-for-3) and Troy Brown Jr. (0-for-2) all missed open looks.
So, if they continue to play with this lineup and don’t trade away Westbrook at some point, you are starting to think if they will miss the playoffs yet another year. If so, it will take another big hit on Lebron’s legacy.
“It didn’t even draw the net it was so short.”
The Lakers' announcers let LeBron have it ? pic.twitter.com/5aTc1jbD7K
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 23, 2022
This sums up the Lakers start of the season perfectly.
