If you didn’t have ‘James’ or ‘Hachimura’ on your jersey last night you might as well have also gotten a ‘DNP-Content’ next to your name in the stat box. Seemingly content with their game 1 victory the Lakers looked sluggish, tired and generally disengaged for most of game 2. While it could also be said the Warriors were fighting for their playoff lives, the Lakers overall lackadaisical approach to game was frustrating for this Lakers’ fan.
- I want to believe AD is ready for the next step in his career. But I can’t. Not because of a lack of talent but his overall mentality and disposition have shown us that he just ain’t that dude. Mongo been saying it since before he got here and ever since. At times, I’ll admit, I allow myself to be fooled. For a game or three AD will look unstoppable on both ends. Blocking shots, fighting for rebounds, scoring inside and out. You get caught up in it and believe he’s figured it out, he’s found that gear, whatever parable one wishes to create. Inevitably it’ll be followed by a game (or worse, a stretch of games) where he simply shows up. Middling impact, drifts around the floor, especially on offense, and isn’t aggressive. That was the AD we got last night. Here’s hoping he goes into hibernation for the rest of what season is left to us.
- Wasted a vintage LeBron game. Looked like The King of old except that the rest of the team (save for one) no-showed the game. His assists were down, only 3, but that’s a byproduct of the house the Lakers seemed intent on building last night. It’s too bad because one has to wonder how many more of these kind of games, where he’s efficient inside and out, are left in LeBron’s career.
- Rui found his shot. 8-14, with a sparkling 4-6 from three, Hachimura found that stroke early and kept it going. While he alone was not able to help LeBron keep the Lakers in the game in the second half it was a welcome sight.
- Laker guards got schooled. All of them, even the ones who played in garbage time (OK, LW4 looked solid off the bench in GT). Simply put we can’t absorb bad games from all of Schroder, Russell, and Reaves. Combined they shot an abysmal 8-26 (1-9 from three), amassed 8 total rebounds and couldn’t stop Curry’s drives or Klay’s shots all game long. We’ll need those three to play a lot better if we want any chance at all.
- Home cooking and some coaching adjustments. Need some shots to start falling, AD to return to playoff form, and a few tweaks to the D. As AD outplayed the Warrior front line in game 1, so did Curry outplay our back court in game 2. Toss in Klay going off and voila! Loss. We need our guys on the baseline to have one eye on Curry and the other on a potential cutter. That’s not a difficult adjustment but it does require the defender to keep their head on a swivel and not relax. We also need to stop relying on the refs. Yes, you got fouled on that drive. Play on. The whistles will dry up the further we go and we need to rise above it.
Still think we can get this done in 6.
Thanks, Jamie. We all here in Laker Nation had our hearts ripped off last night. I was very embarrassed and I am still hurting. The only thing I would add to your post is what I observed in garbage time.
Number 1, I realized that we would need Lonnie in this series He has been dependable and one of our best shooters from the three-point range. We need to have him in order to counter the Warriors’ firepower. I don’t want anybody to tell me anything about his lack of defense. He is very athletic and not afraid to attack the rim.
Number 2, I realized we could definitely use Tristan Thompson in this series to allow AD to rest and to help with the rebounding. Also, sprinkle in Gabriel to bring in some energy as usual. The only reason I watched garbage time last night was to see what Lonnie, Thompson, and Gabriel can bring to the table, and I was satisfied with what I saw.
Finally, what I was very disappointed with was allowing the Warriors to score 84 points in just the second and third quarters alone. That is unacceptable. Are we not one of the best defensive teams in the league?
On paper perhaps BB. Just hope we aren’t Paper Tigers, lol.
I agree with your comment, DJ. But at this point, the Warriors are figuring us out and we are predictable with the way our offense is run. We need to come up with a different style of play. We could use Lonnie’s offense to help.
Aloha James, nice post. While I wasn’t surprised we lost, it was the way we lost which was disappointing. After a good first quarter it seems like we just gave up when the Warriors had their run in the 2nd. The thing that bothered me most about AD was his defense. While he offense has come and gone in this playoff run, his defense and rebounding remained elite. Until yesterday. I wonder if the 44 minutes he played in the first game impacted his energy level. The Warriors had the 2nd best home record this year but they had the 2nd worst road record. Win our home games and we move on.