A Lakers team without Luka failed to muster enough firepower to win. While disappointing it should also come as no surprise. The defense couldn’t find a groove and we lost to the champs again.
1) Jake LaRavia finally made some baskets! Started cold, finished cold, but in the middle, when we pulled ahead, he scored 8 points on FG’s and hit the majority of his free throws. It’s not easy finding a groove playing next 2-3 high usage players and your job is to bail them out when they pass you the ball, just ask Rui, but I still like Jake sticking in the starting 5.
2) Reaves got in his own head. He was a shadow of himself after that tech for arguing the non-call. Dude knows better but sometimes it’s hard when you feel like it’s 8 on 5.
3) Not enough of LeBron down the stretch: Reddick copped to this post game and I agree. LeBron was exploiting the defense in the 3rd and in the 4th we went…everywhere else. 3 total FGAs for James, he made 2, but this one had all the ingredients for a “turn back the clock” game. We just didn’t impose our will hard enough.
4) Know your enemy. It’s not just a catch phrase or a Rage Against the Machine tune, it ought to be in the notes for the coaches. Going to Maxi Kleber against the Lilliputian Warriors or the slow of foot and small besides Embiid 76ers was a good move. Watching him get out-gazelle’d by Thunder big men was quite easy to see coming. For my money I even thought we played Ayton too much (and him sitting out another game means he could have used some more R&R and gone with the key guys who sparked us in the 3rd: Vando, LaRavia snd Hayes. Jake got 4th quarter minutes. The other guys…not so much. We failed to learn the matchup lesson.
5) Make your free throws fellers. What good is whining about the refs if you don’t take advantage of the ones you were given? C’mon man….
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