5 Things: Suns down short-handed Lakers

As the Lakers limp into the break with concerns on multiple fronts. I wouldn’t read too much into this loss. These teams were both trending in opposite directions: the Suns have been hot and the Lakers, well, not. Once again the three point differential loomed large and further revealed the cracks in the defensive scheme the Lakers have adopted this season, at least for the regular season. The trapping scheme expends tons of energy and as short-handed as we were it’s small surprise the Lakers were spread thin on the perimeter.

1. What more can you ask of LeBron James? Nothing. Not one thing, the King is giving a supreme effort night in and night out. Does he miss a defensive assignment or choose not to contest some drives into the lane? Sure, he’s earned that right, in my opinion. He does so very much to make this team go. The man took the scoring onus on himself last night showing aggression in the paint the likes of which we haven’t often seen this season. His 38 points were accrued quite efficiently (he needed only 24 shots) and he still found time to involve his teammates (many of whom could not throw it in the ocean, more on that later). I welcomed the news James is taking the SacTown game off. Get some extra treatment, spend some time with Bronny post-surgery. Ease into the ASB.
2. The walking wounded. With Kuzma out (heel), AD out (Calf), and Gasol out (H&SP) the Lakers turned to their seemingly ever-thinning bench and started Trezz at the 5. This did not go very well. Maybe he started at the 4, I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. I think Harrell is locked in coming off the bench, he looked a little lost (and certainly wasn’t a great matchup for the Suns Ayton) starting. While that’s not necessarily an opinion with much empirical evidence I have many concerns if we end up going to Harrell as the starting 5. We sorely missed Kuzma on both ends last night so here’s hoping he’s ready for the Kings. We may be without Caruso (neck spasms), as well.
3. KCP and Wes Matthews aka Laurel and Hardy. These guys both look utterly lost on the court. Kentavious has a good game then pulls a full turtle and goes back into his shell. A shell likely constructed entirely of the bricks he has been throwing up from all over the court. Feels like the team is trying to get him going but it is just not happening. I don’t think there’s a player on the team that needs this break more than Caldwell-Pope does. WEs has been a bad all season but less is expected. He and KCP combined to go 1-9 (0-6 from three) for a grand total of 4 whole points. That doesn’t cut it when your role is to provide spacing with your perimeter shooting and defense. These are our three and D guys and they’re getting the D alright, a D minus in shooting. KCP and Wes’s play this season is my biggest reason for hoping the Lakers make a move over the break.
4. Defense not fouling. When you’re giving up the three point game (as we will most nights), allowing the other team to be competitive in the paint (as they have been most nights) and you have a propensity for committing 15+ turnovers per game (as we do most nights) you need to defend without fouling. The Lakers have not been the beneficiaries of many whistles this season (we average 17.7 trips to the stripe/game and allow 17.9, we need to create an advantage there) and it’s made the tough games even harder to win.
5. This isn’t broken. All of the issues our team has can be mended with better health, some improved contributions from guys we all expected to do better (specifically KCP) and a rededication to playing with effort. We may need to make a chance to the starting five, I still would like to see THT start over KCP as an example. Rob has plenty of reasons to measure trades as several Lakers are either under-performing, will be difficult to re-sign this summer and a combo of those players may be enough to land a quality player whom we either retain under contract past the off season or can extend without hard-capping ourselves.