5 THINGS

Without LeBron I had this stamped, signed sealed and delivered as a loss. Then the game started and I thought we were at least playing the way you want to see a team without it’s best player rally. Then the 76ers shot 371 free throws. Then we came back. Then we lost. Still, it was a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. Getting late for the Lakers.

1. Russell’s solid outing. Other than the 7 turnovers and nascent trips to the free throw line (not by his design, mind you) I though Russell had a pretty good game. If he got the Harden treatment he would have gone to the line a few more times. Russ scored when we needed, tried to make the right play and generally played like the player I thought we traded for. It’s been a slog for Russ and he’s endured quite a lot of flack for a season for whom he is not entirely at fault for. But he, too, has his own responsibilities to shoulder for this dumpster fire of a season. It’s games like last night, and his play over the last couple of weeks, that makes me think the Lakers might run the trio back.
2. Stanley’s stellar start. He faded in the scoring department after the first quarter but SJ came out with a head of steam and got us off the mark in the first quarter. He scored 13 points (which was what he ended with) and took only 2 more shots after the 1st frame but he also had the tough assignment of guarding James Harden, which I thought he did effectively. He also didn’t force his own offense after his hot start with 8 assists to lead the team along with Russ’s ocho. Johnson’s passing and handle have been a revelation to me as he has shown an above-average ability to make productive reads, can get to where he wants to on the floor (although some of that is out of sheer disrespect from the opposition who are playing him to get into the paint and try to score, that will eventually be scouted better).
3. Dwight can still bring it. This is one of the more personally infuriating plot lines of the season. Dwight gets a start, plays well, sits for 3 games we usually lose. I just don’t get it. If Frank is doing this because the internal analytics team is telling him our offense is SOOOOO much better with Dwight off the floor they don’t understand basketball at a basic level. Is the spacing better? Yeah, I guess, but that’s not the be-all-end-all of a basketball team. Great spacing helps, yes, but so do these funny things called defense, rebounding, setting solid screens and size. So it will, to me at least, be quite ironic if Frank has foregone minutes for Dwight in the name of the over-used, over-referred to, and often flat wrong, theory of how the game should be played based on analytics. Let the big man loose while you still have a prayer Frank, offense isn’t as important enough to sacrifice all of your defense for. That’s the deal with the Devil the Lakers have made with LeBron at the center. Yes, the offense looks wonderful, but the defense sucks and we keep losing. So, while outscoring the opposition is the way to win, you don’t get there focusing on one end and entirely ditching the other.
4. Free throws. Can’t be ignored. At one point the 76ers were approaching 20 and we were stuck on three. This after Russ got thrown to floor on a driving layup (no call), and Embiid landed on Stanley’s left shoulder which was deemed a rather excellent blocked shot by the official standing roughly 9 feet away. Johnson’s yapping after that one earned him a tech, the other one was gifted to Dwight who complained that he wasn’t afforded the same luxuries on defense (grabbing, pushing, etc.) that Joel was getting. This is a league of reputations, for better or worse, it’s why you need to work extremely hard not to get pigeon-holed in the NBA. Give up big leads, it’ll happen because the other team will smell blood if they can just make a couple of late buckets, breathe on James Harden wrong=foul, create space through bodying up means it’s a really tough call to make. The Lakers are on the wrong end of a lotta reputation issues and it’s not fun to watch. What also can’t be ignored is that they put themselves in those holes by blowing big leads to inferior teams all season long, not playing hard consistently for 48 minutes, and generally acting like an entitled team of destiny and not a team that has to earn it’s way for the first 2/3’s of the season.
5. Here come the Spurs. I’m not sweating the 9th spot at this point, I’m expecting us to finish 10th…at best…and can easily envision a scenario where we play ourselves right out of the play-in rounds, as well. Don’t believe me? Cool, that’s what I call cognitive dissonance and willfully ignoring reality. Because with a scant 2 games separating us and 9 games to go for both teams we need to win more than we’ve shown ourselves capable of doing. 3 games is our longest winning streak of the season. T-h-r-e-e. The Spurs schedule looks like this:
   

So feel free to dismiss the reality that we are facing being eliminated from the playin round. The tie-breaker will be decided by the team with the better in-division record, I believe, since we split the games between our two teams this season. We’re behind on that score, as well, and we’re facing pretty tough in-division opponents from here on out.

Anyhow, they’re all “must-win” from here on out and frankly that was the case after the All Star break. But, in a fashion typical for this team, we’ve continually squandered each and every possibility to make this season easier and so here we are: just likely to be the 10th seed as the 9th and facing a complete and utter collapse. Miss the playoffs with LeBron, AD, and Russ? To me that signals a total tear down, re-evaluation of our talent assessment (like who decided THT over Caruso) and so on. What it’ll signal to Jeannie is anyone’s guess.

In another game where LeBron attained a lofty place in NBA history the Lakers made it a point to play like crap. They came out hot on offense but managed one quarter of decent defense (the first) before getting lazy with their rotations, inept with their footwork and none of it was helped by Vogel choosing to guard 7’3″ Kristaps Porzingis with the likes of Bradley, Westbrook and other small players. Thus, despite LeBron moving to second on the All Time scoring list the Lakers fell to 30-41 with a meager .5 game lead over the Pelicans.

1. LeBron is number two. It’s an amazing accomplishment over-shadowed only by how utterly awful the Lakers have played in all but a handful of games. Accumulating that many points in the NBA requires, luck, skill, durability, great teammates, and above all dedication. Honestly, just about everything the Lakers a re seemingly lacking in this season. Still, for a half it looked like the Lakers might do right by LeBron and make it a winning affair. James, if he plays another 2 seasons of relatively healthy basketball, will surely pass The Captain and occupy the number 1 spot all by himself. While the impact of the three point shot, the fact LeBron came out of high school, and that he was always a featured player in every season he played all played a part in LeBron getting to this point it’s indisputable that LeBron has put in the work and dedication to his craft required to get to this level.
2. Westbrook’s great night. It occurred to me that we may have just watched one of the last great shooting nights of Russell’s career. Never a highly efficient scorer Russ was on fire from all over last night. So much so that I was hoping Russ would have been a little more aggressive looking for his own shot later in the game. While that didn’t happen Russ still had a great follow up to his game-saving antics the night before.
3. THT’s not so great game. Another donut for Talen who really looks lost to me this season. Making terrible reads on defense, not attacking the basket like we know he’s capable of doing, and generally playing like a guy who didn’t deserve a raise last summer. If there ever was a debate as to if the Lakers chose the wrong player betwixt Talen and Alex (for me there never was, I’d have gone Caruso in every scenario imaginable) one would imagine this season of mediocre play, regression and general malaise from a young player who hasn’t done much would be enough.
4. Refs an easy excuse but faulty. The issue was more with our general lack of defensive intensity and poor match ups. We also got lazy on offense in the 4th when LeBron ran outta gas. I wish the team and/or the coaches were as good at recognizing when LeBron has hit a wall as I seem to be. When he does hit that wall we need him to go into decoy, off-ball mode not 35′ three point hero ball mode. Monk didn’t get many late looks, we generally just went to the LeBron/Melo two-man game that lives on the perimeter. Need to do better. If you don’t attack the defense you don’t get to the line. Was there a rather large difference between the free throws awarded to each team? Yes, but there was a legit reason why. I counted 5 free throws I thought we should have been awarded, mostly in the first half except for one Westbrook drive. That’s not enough for the game to swing our way. Wizards were the aggressor, credit goes to them.
5. Missing the playoffs has become a real outcome for this season. San Antonio is 3 games back and could knock us out of the playoffs. We play New Orleans twice in the next couple weeks and with 11 games back and our post ASB winning percentage being what it is and the general lack of interest the Lakers have shown regarding competing for 48 minutes I can quite easily envision a world where we lose all but one or two games going forward and San Antonio sneaks past. If that happens nobody, and I mean nobody, with a meaningful job title should be around next season. Our talent evaluation other lan late round draft picks is garbage, the front office is run by the superstars and the coach defaults to them, as well. In short this team is an utter mess and frankly deserves to miss the playoffs the way they play on most nights. After deriding the playin last season LeBron will be counting his lucky-ass stars that it exists now because otherwise they wouldn’t have a hope of sniffing the playoffs. That could still happen.

Another game Monday against Cleveland, not sure which version of the Lakers will show up and honestly I don’t think it matters anymore. this team can’t sustain effort for 48 minutes which means they’ll be done no later than the 1st round. Davis coming back or Nunn “lighting it up” in practice means nothing now. Too little, too late. The habits we laughed off as “it’s just one game!” months ago are now the habits that will lead this team to become possibly the most disappointing Laker team every assembled.

For a game at least the slide slowed. Frank got the absolute most one can expect out of journeyman Wenyan Gabriel who hit all three of his 3 pointers, 7-8 shots overall, and brought some desperately needed size. Also returning to the starting five was one Dwight Howard who played 24 minutes and brought support in the form of defending the paint and boxing out. The game ball would have to go to the beleaguered Russell Westbrook who sent the game into OT with a clutch steal and three pointer.

1. Westbrook staying the course. It’s easy to give up, especially for fans who have little to no impact on the outcome of things. For a pro athlete there can’t be any quit, though. If there is that means you have entered the “toast” phase of your career as a player. Russ has withered a lot of criticism from inside and outside the NBA. From professional chump Patrick Beverley to ex-champ Kendrick Perkins to 88,265 media heads and most of the Laker fanbase Russ has heard it all season long. He got a little of that back last night with a needed (for all parties involved) triple-double and a solid game overall.
2. 20 points away. LeBron is about to become the second greatest point scorer in NBA history. That from a guy with a ‘pass-first’ mentality. It’s astounding to me the numbers this man has accumulated, creating the one-man statistical category of the triple 10,000, and he’s brought home the hardware to validate all of it in the form of ring;s trophies and other accolades. James has another solid game and we won without him scoring 50 breaking therealhtj’s prophecy of “we’ll win if LeBron scores 50 (although it did last for far too many games, lol). Had LeBron gotten to 50 he would be on the cusp of passing Karl Malone and occupy the #2 all time scoring leader spot.
3. Wenyan’s big game. I’m not going to lie, I consider this game of Wenyan’s to be an anomaly. The big man from Sudan tied his career high with 17 points and 9 rebounds. We needed every single stat he brought, though, and if…somehow-some way…he can keep up this level of production up to some degree or another it’ll help the Lakers a lot. 6 teams in 3 seasons can be seen two ways” a prospect who needs time and/or a defined role to develop or a player tossed in because the $$$ works and who knows maybe something can come of it. Well kid, here’s your chance to make the most of a rough start to your career.
4. Avery Bradley re-asserting himself. These games a re coming fewer and farther between, at least on offense. AB is one of our better by percentage three point shooters but he’s been in and out of the lineup since just before the ASB. If he’s back and healthy it means Frank has a good teo-way option that I think should come off the bench. Along with Reaves it gives us some defense and shooting in the second unit which we desperately need. Russ usually plays longer into the 1st quarter so having a secondary ball handler who can run an offense and hit shots helps give Russ a tool to use. Nice to see AB make some great plays on defense and he should have gotten that charging call that was a block.
5. Stick with Dwight. I thought from the beginning that Dwight should have been our starting center. That going to LeBron at the five is a weapon to be deployed strategically and not to be overly-relied upon. We get killed on the glass every game LeBron spends the majority of his minutes at the 5. Yes, LeBron had 2 game-saving blocks last night but overall for the majority of the game we are a team that is vulnerable in the paint. We need somebody with size, defensive and rebounding acumen to help LeBron out and man the paint. That isn’t Carmelo Anthony, either, who has done well this season on defense given his rep. Well is not what Dwight brings, especially when healthy and motivated. We may have helped him lose focus by not being clear and honest about his role, for sitting him for games on end. The man has pride and plays best when he’s playing for it. It’s another reason I think Frank won’t have a job after the season in that I am of the opinion we mismanaged Howard all season long.

Need to keep it rolling tonight. We simply can’t afford to win one game and then lose 3 or more after that because…who knows why. If you’re not ready to play hard, do everyone a favor and don’t play. LeBron is leaving it all out there, every night, do him the courtesy of putting forth the same effort and focus.

Here we are again, losing to a better team. That’s right, a LeBron James-led Laker squad isn’t as good as the Minnesota Timberwolves. They’re better in literally every facet of the game except, maybe, post-game attire. Other than that, we’re a team in free fall and they’re a team on the rise. I’m sick of this; I just wish the Lakers were, too.

1. LeBron’s 20+ point streak ends. After another subpar shooting game (8-21, 1-8 from three and 23-5 from the free throw line) ended one of the more entertaining and frankly competitive things about this team came to an end last night. James had another gassed game and the Lakers losing ways unless the King scores 50+ kept on rolling. We’re 2-9 since the All Star break and those 2 wins coincide with James scoring 50. Therealhtj’s prophecy has held true so far.
2. Russ getting dissed. From “I can’t let the fans besmirch my name!” to “I don’t care what KAT and Pat-Bev say!” Westbrook isn’t finding any of the respect he so obviously craves. Here’s an idea: play better.
3. Beat down on the glass. We got our clocks cleaned in the rebounding dept. Dwight Howard, in a whopping 16 minutes, led the team with 6 boards. Disgraceful. The small ball the Lakers play is pathetic fool’s gold.
4. Too many threes when we couldn’t hit them. The Lakers went back to some of the older players last night, like Ellington and Bradley. Didn’t matter as we couldn’t hit a three to save our life.
5. Failing at NBA 101 type stuff. We can’t do anything right at this point. We forced 2 more turnovers but lost the points off of turnovers battle by 6 (17 to 11), we don’t box out or go hard for rebounds, and we miss a lotta free throws. vAll opf this made for the second wire-to-wire loss in as many games.

I don’t think this team even deserves to back into the playoffs at this point. We’re awful, play without pride and can’t execute basic basketball fundamentals. It’s pathetic.

TherealHTJ is 2-2. When LeBron scores 50 we win. When he doesn’t we lose. That’s not a recipe for a winning ball club. Nevertheless, we did win a much-needed game and the Lakers even gained ground on the Clippers who lost. So it rolls, and we’re all along for the ride.

1. LeBron defying everything. We’re way past defying expectations, he’s blown those away. We’re now into defying nature itself, the idea of defying Father Time is something sacrosanct in the world of sport. You can’t do it. Bird, Jordan, Kobe, even Kareem with his ageless game had nothing like what we’re seeing from LeBron at age 37. Of all of them the closest in overall game impact to LeBron is indeed the Captain. Jordan was contemplating comeback #3 at 37, his return to the court in year 1 was decent but he never recaptured the majesty of his first two stints in the NBA at 38 and 39. Still, given the state of sport medicine and the caliber of the league when he came back Michael’s accomplishments are pretty amazing. At 37, coming off multiple potentially career-ending injuries, Kobe put up a (for him) pedestrian stat line for his age 37 season. However, he went out in a way completely emblematic of his gunner career and the way any great would want to walk off the floor for the final time. 60 points in a win. Epic. The King is just on another level and it’s not even close. You could argue that Kareem had more appearances and led his team to a better record…but he had a better team and that’s really where that debate should end. How would Abdul-Jabbar’s final season. have looked without Magic playing in the majority of the season? Or if Worthy had been a shadow of himself and so on. The King is doing something special in an otherwise dreary season.
2. Small ball problems. Frank seems to think our small ball team is OK. I have never been a wholesale advocate of the small ball “revolution”. It’s got it’s pros and cons, just like literally everything else on Earth. We score better playing small, we get killed on the glass and can’t stop teams at the rim. I’m not talking about the handful of blocked shots this player or that garnered, I’m talking about forcing the kind of bad shots that makes for an excellent defense. That’s not Laker small ball. It’s too much to ask of LeBron to do everything. It’s something that should, and hopefully will, be addressed in the offseason.
3. Russ’s benching in the 4th. I don’t see it as a benching, per se, but we’re really debating shades of gray at that point. Russell doesn’t fit on this team because it wasn’t built to suit his skills. He has always done better with some elite-level defenders, a solid three point shooter and a screen setting big man to free up his rim runs for passes or scores. Westbrook seems to have lost an inch or so of lift on his drives, he still gets up there but his layups are all left short or forced hard. That speaks to a lost step, to me. It’s something to watch unfold this season actually. Two elite athletes (Russ and LeBron) who are on completely different physical trajectories in terms of how they are able to impact the game as they age.
4. Kuzma and KCP in the house. The video tribute was awesome, the two players said all the right things about their time as Lakers and I don’t think there’s a blogger here that wouldn’t take the trade that sent them away back. They were 2 of Frank’s most versatile tools on defense, KCP as a ball hawk and elite weak-side help defender on the perimeter. Kuzma as a Swiss Army knife player who can score, defend multiple positions and is still improving and evolving his game. Contrasts that with the possession wasting that Russ has been for us. That’s not a knock on Russ, I still think Russ is a HOF talent, has accomplished amazing things in the league and deserves and earned all the accolades coming his way. But Kuzma and KCP were simply better fits for this version of the Lakers. They have the size and skills we now lack, they are multiple players representing cap space not just one. Ain’t no goin’ back tho.
5. 16 games left. In theory AD could be coming back but, let’s be honest, he’ll need a handful (if not more) games to get back up to NBA speed. That’s if he comes back before the end of the season. No word from the Lakers or AD in terms of how he’s feeling or if the foot is healing. It’s easy to forget the impact he has on our defense and his ability to score inside and out since he’s played so infrequently the last 2 seasons. We’re not winning jack without a healthy AD, we still may not make the play-in rounds, and we’re going to face an elite team on the other side. These 16 games need to be about coming together, regardless of any of the outside noise. Russ doesn’t want folks besmirching his name? Play better. LeBron wants his damn respect? It’s earned every season in sport. Might not be fair but that’s the business. AD wants to shed the “oft-injured” tag? Honestly, too late, but you can start the climb out of that reputation hole by playing at an elite level for whatever games you play in from here on out. Like the new show on HBO says: Winning Time

Don’t sleep on the Suns sans Book and CP3 et al, they’re an elite team. Gotta win tomorrow.