Aloha,
I was going to say the Lakers should have won. But the better description is the 76ers should have lost. Their melt down was even worse then our Pacer melt down. Just a few random thoughts.
The fix was on. This was one of the most lopsided refereeing jobs I have seen for awhile. A few of those calls on AD were beyond ticky tack. I thought Darvin should have challenged that 3rd one for sure. No foul. Now Embid was allowed to shove AD to the ground on his shot. Crickets.
AD was amazing again. He had 31 points in 31 minutes in regulation. He was a plus 26 at the end of regulation. Once he able to play free in the 4th, he just took over. A lot of Embid damage was with AD off the floor. A lot of AD’s damage was with Embid on the floor. I don’t blame that one missed free throw on the loss. He was the reason we were in that position.
Unfortunately, we have seen many more games like yesterdays from LeBron then good ones. 23 points on 22 shots. 1-8 from 3 4-8 from the line. And again lazy perimeter defense. LeBron has to be better then this to give us a chance.
Austin and Lonnie went a combined 7 for 11 from 3. LeBron and Russ went 2 for 13. What’s wrong this this picture?
Austin was amazing. He is really playing like an experienced vet. While he deserves to start, I have struggled with the idea. We need something for our 2nd unit. As long as he is getting minutes and closing I’m okay with him coming off the bench. It’s kind of the same situation as Lamar. Definitely a starter but he was important for the bench unit.
I hate starting both starting both Dennis and Pat. We are undersized already, that puts 6’ 4” Lonnie as our SF. I really don’t understand why Troy isn’t starting.
Nobody has been talking about it but I think we really miss Gabriel. A good switchable big comes in handy. LeBron played way to many minutes.
Sometimes I don’t understand coach Ham. At the end of the game when we needed a 3, he didn’t bring Lonnie in. We had LeBron, Russ and Dennis out there. WTF?
And in the OT and couldn’t score, Lonnie is sitting on the bench. A double WTF.
So if we beat the Pistons we go 3-3 on the road trip, which is what I was hoping for. It’s a shame AD got sick and LeBron had to miss that game. We should have let the sizers lose. It could have been a different trip.
Great post, Michael. Glad you brought up the refs. Those fouls on AD totally changed the game. The one thing that jumps out at me is this team competes. That comeback was crazy. You’re right. The 76ers deserved to lose that game.
We need size desperately also jumps out as critical because it’s been the only way we can make up for the shooting is bullying in the post. Get us a starting three who can shoot and defend and rim protecting five who can dunk and this team can compete with anybody.
Yes, we really missed Wenyen. Bryant had a tough night defensively but everybody does against Joel, especially when the refs protect him. I don’t know why there is such a different standard for Beverley and Schroder. They both must have been given some promises to sign. Dumb.
After watching OT again I think we just got lazy. Russ took the open shots they gave him, LeBron wasn’t a factor and we went away from AD and our aggressive D . Small surprise we lost. If the Lakers don’t force the action to Davis they’re basically playing poorly. I don’t want to totally throw LeBron under the bus, either. 44 minutes, 6 more than any other Laker. Dude was gassed and coach throws him out with, as you mentioned Michael, LW4 well-rested on the bench. The guys who got you to OT are not, by law, required or expected to finish the game.