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Emphasizes: Thunder vs. Lakers
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5 minutes into the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James galloped down the court and barged into the paint. A fourth, Abdel Nader, got a hand on James pass to Dion Waiters in the corner.
Completion outcome was especially ugly, however the belongings acts as a handy microcosm of the Lakers 105-86 loss (box rating) on Wednesday. James, who ended up with 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting, saw assistance defenders whenever he tried to produce. The exact same opted for Anthony Davis, who scored simply 9 points on 3-for-11 shooting, and their teammates were unable to make OKC pay.
Two days after clinching the No. 1 seed in the West, this looks like the type of video game that ought to be dismissed as worthless. The Lakers shot a putrid 5-for-37 (13.5 percent) from 3-point variety, and, according to Cleaning The Glass, they scored 85.1 points per 100 belongings in non-garbage time, and 65.6 per 100 in the halfcourt, which are both their most affordable marks of the entire season..
However isnt it fascinating that, simply 4 days prior, they were almost exactly as bad? In a 107-92 loss on Saturday, the Toronto Raptors held them to 86.1 points per 100 possessions in non-garbage time and 71.9 per 100 in the halfcourt. Here are 3 of numerous belongings that went nowhere:.
The uncomfortable reality about the Lakers is that couple of groups in the bubble have actually looked more unpleasant on offense. On resuming night they handled a two-point win over the Clippers, but the private dominance of Davis, who scored 34 points and shot 16-for-17 from the totally free throw line, obscured that they had excellent problem finding points any other way. Los Angeles scored 102 points per 100 possessions in that victory, its 11th-worst offensive performance of the season. That number would rank dead last in the league if sustained, as would the 86.7 points per 100 possessions the Lakers scored in the halfcourt.
Even the most ardent Laker hater would admit that it is reckless to leap to catastrophic conclusions based upon a four-game sample after a four-month layoff. Los Angeles hasnt faced a defensive slouch yet, and it is attempting to incorporate Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith. Most Likely, Danny Green will not continue to miss out on so numerous wide-open threes. The Lakers bubble struggles, however, point to a season-long issue: Their mediocre halfcourt offense..
Even prior to they lost Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo (the latter temporarily), they were extremely dependent on James playmaking and were a bad 3-point-shooting team by both volume and accuracy. They feasted in shift and played stingier defense than practically anybody anticipated, however in the halfcourt, their offense ranked 15th when the hiatus began, with basically the exact same effectiveness as the Phoenix Suns.
What do you believe, Russ?.
Nothing weve seen in Orlando recommends the Lakers have actually fixed this, to put it kindly. If they are going to do so, they will either need the likes of Kyle Kuzma, Waiters or Rondo to make plays regularly when they get deep in the playoffs– a dangerous proposal– or they will need James to control the ball even more (and, based upon their on/off numbers, almost never rest). No one targets weak spots like he does, however the other contenders dont have much of those..
Unlike last season, Los Angeles hasnt saddled James with a lineup entirely without shooting and stuffed with players who require the ball in their hands. Instead, he has an MVP-caliber co-star but a shaky supporting cast, and his course to his fourth champion leaves little space for error..
The most disconcerting thing about Wednesdays loss was not the margin however the opponent: The Thunder are among the shallower playoff teams in recent memory, and their lone bench risk, Dennis Schroder, had left the school for the birth of his child. But it was Los Angeles that appeared top-heavy.
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The same went for Anthony Davis, who scored just 9 points on 3-for-11 shooting, and their colleagues were unable to make OKC pay.
In a 107-92 loss on Saturday, the Toronto Raptors held them to 86.1 points per 100 belongings in non-garbage time and 71.9 per 100 in the halfcourt. On reopening night they handled a two-point win over the Clippers, but the individual supremacy of Davis, who scored 34 points and shot 16-for-17 from the totally free throw line, obscured that they had terrific difficulty discovering points any other method. Los Angeles scored 102 points per 100 belongings in that triumph, its 11th-worst offending performance of the season. That number would rank dead last in the league if sustained, as would the 86.7 points per 100 possessions the Lakers scored in the halfcourt.
