Aloha,
If you didn’t know anything about the NBA and were forming an opinion based on the articles written about the Lakers one would conclude that the Lakers are not very good. One article called them a mess. Last nights game showed that the Lakers are a very good team. It’s just that they are battling a great team. One that has a good chance of repeating as champions.
The Lakers have led in all but 40 plus minutes of this series and I think that we are one Vanderbilt away from the series at least being tied 2-2. The Lakers have done a great job on Murray except for the 4th quarter of game 2. If Vando had been available I don’t see Murray doing what he did.
Without all of the injuries we sustained through the year we would have been at a top 6 team or even a top 4 team. The Nuggets have been together several years now to build that chemistry. Our current rotation started in February.
What would the Nuggets look like without Gordon or KCP? Thats what it’s like for the Lakers, missing an elite defender and rebounder in Vando.
There is all this speculation of what the Lakers need to do in the off season. Personally I think we are pretty close already. The Nuggets had a few years together. I would like to see what the Lakers could do with more time together with Vando.
The odds of us coming all the way back are long. And I question how effective Vando would be if he were to come back after missing all that time. Still if we can win in Denver it changes everything. And that’s not out of the question, we came close in game 2. It will require contributions from everyone again, especially Dlo and Austin. They need to hit those 3’s. Let’s also give them a little defensive credit they have made Murray work.
It will be tough to win on Monday but another sustained 4 quarter effort and we may head back to LA. Like LeBron said, one game at a time.
Great post!! I am just praying for a reversal of fortune for the rest of the series.
Sorry Buba, Outside the most homerific of wishing, there’s not a whole lotta reason to believe. At least they finally broke the streak.
Man, things are tough on this Lakers team.
That miracle shot Murray hit (and the 3 LeBron missed) were real spirit crushers, which played out on the court in game 3. Game 4 was awesome, showed we can beat them, but I fear it may be too little too late.
I also don’t see Rob/Jeannie/et al choosing to keep this rolling as-is. I’d like them to basically run it back but I think they’ll end up wrecking the roster for Trae Young which will be a difficult slope for this coaching staff to climb. We’ll see though, a win in Denver could change that thinking and we are def missing Vando who would likely be getting the Spencer/TP minutes , maybe even a little less DLo/Rui?