Category Archives: Los Angeles Lakers
LAKERS’ DILEMMA: To Win Or Not To Win
After the last games were played in the NBA’s regular season, the dust finally settled, and the No. 1 to 6 seeds for both conferences (East and West) were finally determined. As to who will be No. 7 and 8 seeds is yet unknown.
In the East, via the play-in tournament, the Philadelphia Sixers, the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls, and the Atlanta Hawks are vying for the last two spots for the playoffs. Out West, the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, and the Los Angeles Lakers are the last teams standing.
The Lakers had to defeat the Pelicans to place 8th in the standings after the regular season and must hand the former another loss to secure the 7th seed going into the playoffs.
It should be remembered that last year, the Lakers also had to survive the play-in tournament and ended up as No. 7 in the West. Despite being the underdogs, they defeated the 2nd-seeded Grizzlies. They also booted out the 6th-seeded Warriors, then the defending champions, becoming one of the only two (2) 7th-seed to reach the Western Conference finals. Their magical run from a dismal 2-10 start ended when the Nuggets, the eventual champion, swept them in 4 straight games.
The defending champs Nuggets unexpectedly ended at the No. 2 spot in the West. The Lakers are staring at the possibility of duking it out with their last year’s Western Conference tormentors should they defeat the Pelicans and become 7th-seeded. The Nuggets also swept the Lakers in their regular season tussles.
The Lakers are seemingly incapable of solving the Nuggets’ riddle. They have not defeated the defending champs in their last 8 games. Thus, sports analysts and basketball pundits say it would be better for them to intentionally drop their game against the Pelicans and prepare themselves for the battle for the 8th seed against the winner of the Warriors-Kings knock-out game. They suggest the Lakers tank in their first play-in tournament game to avoid the Nuggets.
Should the Lakers end up at No. 8 in the West, they will face the Oklahoma City Thunder, who surprisingly snatched the No. 1 seed. And the oddsmakers may consider them favorites considering the latter defeated the former thrice in four games during the regular season.
But what is the guarantee that the Lakers will end up defeating the Warriors-Kings tussle winner, considering how they performed against both teams during the regular season? They lost their four regular games against the Kings. The Warriors hold a 3-1 win-loss record against them. However, it should be noted that in their 2 losses against the Warriors, Anthony Davis, a vital cog in both ends of the floor for the Lakers, played only for a few minutes in one and did not play at all in the other because of injuries.
So, the Lakers can pick their poison. Win their game against the Pelicans to ensure they play in the playoffs (unfortunately against the defending champions Nuggets), or go for all of their marbles in a do-or-die game against the winner of the 9 vs 10 play-in match-up. The Warriors and the Kings are definitely no pushovers. They will not give the win to the Lakers on a silver platter. Neither of those two teams will just roll over and die.
What could go in the Lakers’ favor should they vie for the No. 8 spot (in case they lose the game against the Pelicans either on purpose or otherwise) is them playing on their homecourt and the fact that Lebron and his crew play differently when the stakes are high. It is hard to disregard the fact that they have won 14 of their last 20 games.
Nobody knows which way the Lakers go. Whatever decisions the think-tank of the Lakers organization comes out with, there’s one serious matter to consider – the extent of the injury Anthony Davis suffered in their previous games against the Pelicans. If the Lakers decide to go all out to notch the 7th seed, will Davis be able to play? Is he 100% healthy?
The Lakers must ground Davis if playing him would aggravate his injury and jeopardize his health and their chances in the playoffs. Let his aching back heal a little bit more. And should they decide to go this route, they might as well either rest Lebron or play him sparingly. Allow the team’s main stars to reserve their strength and unleash them in their matchup against the Warriors or the Kings.
But what if the Pelicans are also thinking of taking their chances against the winner of the no. 9 and no. 10 teams instead of facing the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs?
Tanking their initial play-in tournament game is perhaps not in the minds of both the Lakers and the Pelicans. Regardless of the consequences of winning that game, both teams owe it to NBA fans to give their all. Their credibility will definitely get a hit if they do not play to win. They will perhaps be branded as cowards for not wanting to face the Nuggets in a playoff series.
Why The Lakers Lost to the Suns
What happened to the Lakers in the NBA this season wasn’t the Hollywood ending that many expected. The Suns melted their hope of repeating as champs. But LeBron James (LBJ) and the Lakers have nothing to be ashamed of because if you understand basketball and you’re not a LEBRON HATER, you know why they’re not supposed to get past the first round after what happened in Game 3 of the series. It was a game they won, but ironically, it was when they lost the series. It was a battle they won but it made them lost the war.
Does Booker and the Suns beating LeBron and the Lakers mean that they are the better team? I am of the opinion that it does not. Of course you would say that this is just the LeBron diehard in me expressing a sentiment.
Skip Bayless and his disciples – the legion of LeBron haters – were quick to crucify the leader of the Lakers for that early playoff exit. They will most certainly be calling him again “the washed king,” a label they grudgingly swallowed like a bitter pill when in 2020 he led the Purple and Gold to their 17th NBA title.
Why did the Lakers lose to the Suns?
Go back to Game 3 of the series. If you are indeed a fan of basketball and not just waiting for LeBron to fail, you would have noticed three significant takeaways in that game.
Firstly, it revealed the formula in beating the Suns – inside the paint. Knowing how atrocious is their team’s outside shooting this season, particularly from beyond the arc, Vogel and his coaching staff figured that they have to use their advantage in size. The Lakers outshone the Suns in the paint 58-38 with Anthony Davis (AD) and LBJ leading the charge. Check the statistics of that game and you’ll see also that Chris Paul and company were outrebounded 51 – 35. Now, remove AD from the equation. What would happen to that advantage in inside scoring and rebounding?
In games 1 to 3, AD had this points-rebounds-assists-blocks stat line – 27-9-4-2.
That brings us to the second takeaway from Game 3 – AD’s injury. That happened when he tried to block from behind Booker’s lay-up late in the 2nd quarter. While he may have finished the game, those who understand the nature of injuries in basketball, knew that AD will feel the effects of that injury after the game. True enough, in Game 4, he was not himself, did not play in Game 5, and logged in only 5 minutes in Game 6. That means that the Lakers’ season was pretty much over after Game 3. Why? Where would his team get the 27 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals per game that AD contributed during the first 3 games?
That question leads us to the third takeaway – Dennis Schorder’s performance. In Game 3 which the Lakers won, he scored 20 points. He was supposed to be the third most reliable scorer and backup playmaker. The reason the Lakers acquired him, sacrificing Danny Green and a future draft pick in the process, is to take some pressure off LBJ and AD. But he was surprisingly inconsistent in his performance throughout the series. In the 2 games that the Lakers won, he averaged 22 points per game. In their 4 losses, he scored 10.5 per game. He did not score a single point in the pivotal game 5 where they scored only 85 against the Sun’s 115. And it was that game that AD did not play.
What exacerbated matters for the Lakers was the fact that it wasn’t AD only who got injured in Game 3. Cadwell Pope got hurt as well. In case you haven’t noticed, he was the most reliable defender against Booker. In Pope’s absence and his ability to defend compromised when he returned, Booker averaged 31.33 points in Games 4, 5, & 6.
Generally, those injuries to AD and Pope in Game 3 very much encapsulated Lakers’ injury-plagued season. Don’t forget that LBJ himself was out for a long time because of ankle injury and it was not only in Game 3 of their playoff series against the Suns that AD was injured, not to mention the games that Dennis Schroder and Marc Gasol missed because of COVID-19 protocols. Just imagine how those injuries and missed games by the said players affected the building of team chemistry. Thus, even if they would have eclipsed the Suns in the first round, which they had high probability of accomplishing had Davis not suffered that injury, getting deeper into the playoffs and possibly the championship is almost a losing proposition.
And by the way, LeBron, at 36 and probably not playing at 100% because of the injury he had, was still the Lakers’ best performer with averages of 23.33, 7.16, and 8 (points-rebounds-assists).
What Now Skip Bayless?
The founder and CEO of the Lebron Haters Inc., Skip Bayless, could be scratching his head wondering how on earth did the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks (113 – 103) and the Los Angeles Clippers (112 – 103 ) in their last two games.
Bayless’ placing his bet against the Lakers in those two games stems from his hatred of Lebron James whom he fondly calls the “washed king.” The sports columnist believe there’s no way Lebron could outwork Buck’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning NBA’s MVP, and Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, the NBA Final’s MVP last year. But to Bayless’ chagrin, Lebron performed better than his boys. King James had 37 points against Gianis’ 32. Giannis had more rebounds (11 to 8) but the Lakers’ forward had more assists (8 to 6). Against Leonard whom Bayless shamelessly worships, Lebron’s stat line (points, rebounds and assists) is better too – 28, 7, & 9. In that game, Leonard had 27 points, 2 rebounds and no assist. To think that Lebron is already 35 years old (and playing on his 17 year in the NBA) while Giannis and Leonard are only 25 and 28, respectively.
Bayless criticizes the “washed king” for not playing defense but we saw how in that game against the Bucks Lebron defended well against Giannis who is much younger and taller. Giannis was bullied by King James in several occasions. Lebron played “bully basketball” in those games against the Bucks and the Clippers. He played like a man possessed in both ends of the floor.
One facet of King James’ game that Bayless usually makes fun of is his free throw. Did he notice that Lebron converted 12 of his 15 freebies against the Bucks. He also attempted from the stripes 14 times when the Lakers played the Clippers and made 12 of those. That’s 24 out of 29 – 82.76% accuracy. Bayless could be having nightmares.
In several occasions the Fox Sports host lambasted Lebron for being afraid to drive to the hoop because he said “the washed king” was so afraid to get fouled and be embarrassed missing the free throws. That’s exactly what Lebron did in the games against the Bucks and the Clippers – he fearlessly drove down the lane and challenged the defense. He dared his opponents to foul him and disappointed Bayless by converting his free throws.
And how Bayless has harped about Leonard as a “Lebron stopper.” Where was Leonard when Bayless needed him most to prevent Lebron from proving him wrong?
Knowing Bayless, he wouldn’t give credit for what Lebron has done for the past two games which he fearlessly forecast the Lakers would lose (he even had the sagacity to tweet that the final score of the game between the crosstown rivals would be 110-100 in favor of the Clippers). Probably he would take refuge on the fact that Lebron committed 4 turnovers against the Bucks and 2 against the Clippers. That’s just how Bayless has been (and will always be) – look for a way to discredit the “washed king.”
M.A.D. LIGAYA
M.A.D. L I G A Y A 