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Here's a sneak peek of my piece coming out later at @The_BBall_Index on the Lakers-Blazers game.

Look at these two screenshots. Take a close look.

9 of 9 plays on one screenshot ended up with issues for the Laker defense. 9 of 9 on the other screenshot were fine.

Why? pic.twitter.com/Nm3RicDfdK

— Cranjis McBasketball (@Tim_NBA) August 19, 2020

The Lakers, like the Bucks, may find that they are running short on time. The juggernauts that were rolling pre-COVID are now sputtering on fumes in the Bubble. They roll hard in fits and spurts but just do not seem to resemble the well-oiled and fine-tuned machines that we saw back in early March. Talked about adapting today, now we see where the rubber meets the road.

1. Patterns in the Bubble. As much as inconsistency has defined the Lakers Bubble reboot there have been some things they seem to do consistently. One of those things is start poorly. That held true tonight, again. Sloppy, uninspired play from the starting 5. This won’t do in the playoffs. You can’t cede entire quarters to the other team on a regular basis. Whatever changes need be made should not be off of any table, board or iPad at this point. It’s the playoffs, adapt or die.
2. No motion from either KCP or Danny Green on offense is one of the biggest issues. Green is doing his thing, KCP is doing his thing…but both their things overlap, it’s too much of the same thing. That’s on the staff for not recognizing that through 8 seeding games. The mistake has been trying to replace Avery Bradley rather than redefine the starting five’s roles. With Bradley, well, it doesn’t matter ’cause he ain’t here and for good reason. I made that mistake in my mind, too, but I’m not on the staff. I have now long been of the opinion that we should start Waiters to get a more aggressive, decent ball handler, with a solid chip on his shoulder, alongside LeBron and AD to start games. Whether it’s Green or KCP that goes to the bench doesn’t matter to me, you have the same role with different syntax with either player.
3. Lakers Largers showed up big. Both McGee and Howard came to play. Both were victims of terrible play by their teammates or not being on the floor when it mattered. Both will be needed as we move on through the playoffs. AD doesn’t want to bang with centers. Ever. He’ll do it here and there but I distinctly remember a possession where he and Morris were on the floor and Hassan Whiteside floated into the lane for an uncontested dunk because both guys were defending perimeter players and forgot one of them was the center. In a playoff game. The Lakers are going to start one of McGee and Howard every game during the playoffs. Likely McGee. They will not be starting Kyle Kuzma save for injuries sake. It’s what has gotten them the number one seed in the western conference. They won’t be going away from that except, maybe, against Houston and I don’t think they’ll do it for the first game, maybe not even the second. But they may be forced too against the Houston Lilliputians, er Rockets…
4. Crunch time execution. We just didn’t have it. Under two minutes we didn’t look like we had a clue where we wanted points to come from. That’s on us, Portland is not a top flight defensive team, they outscore teams. We let Portland get what they wanted, where they wanted, from whom they wanted when the game was on the line with guys you would expect to be better. Too much KCP for me in the 4th, would have put our best line up (Caruso, Green, LeBron, Kuzma, Davis) in around 3-4 minute mark, just another reason we need AD and Dwight for the first 43ish minutes of the game.
5. Making free throws but also the referees. I haven’t really brought it up but it has to be said. We’re getting whistle jobbed in the Bubble. LeBron isn’t getting any respect at all, there’s a different set of rules for pushing off for us, had to take a coaches challenge, early, to reverse an obvious charging call. Having said that, AD was 12-17, those free throws change the complexity of the game. LeBron missed two in the final 5, that changed the complexity of the game. Your superstars need to make them.

We got time. We showed some solid stretches in the 2nd and early 4th quarter. Let the odd whistles mess with our mojo. Couple things go our way in the 4th, different ball game. Move on, keep improving. The same lack of energy on our supposed home court won’t be there for theirs. One of the reasons I said 7 game series was just as much a matter of adjusting to the reality of these playoffs as anything else. No crowd has to be super odd, for all parties, refs included. It was never supposed to be easy.

Go Lakers!!!