To say the Los Angeles Lakers have had a tough season is a understatement. The short offseason, compressed schedule, and major injuries to superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and key role players have taken their toll.
Barring the Lakers winning their remaining two games and the Blazers losing their last game against the Nuggets on Sunday, the defending NBA champion Lakers will end the 2021 regular season in 7th place in the West. The NBA introduced a Play-In Tournament this season to determine the 7th and 8th seeds. The winner of the 7th vs. 8th place teams wins 7th seed while the loser plays the winner of 9th vs. 10th place teams for 8th seed.
The playoff path for the 7th seed Lakers to repeat as NBA champions this year is a gauntlet filled with major obstacles and road blocks. In fact, no team below 5th seed has ever won the championship in NBA playoff history. Despite all the injuries and losing 17 of the 29 games since LeBron James was injured in March, the Lakers are suddenly getting healthy and showing promising signs they may be capable of defending their championship.
The most promising signs have been the recent championship caliber play by LeBron’s supporting cast, including Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Wesley Matthews. While championships in the NBA are won by superstars, basketball is still a team game and it’s often role players performing like stars in their roles that ultimately determines which team ends up winning the NBA championship.
So let’s look at the key members of LeBron James’ supporting cast who have performed like stars in their roles over the Lakers’ last few games and what their roles might be in these playoffs helping win the championship.
THE RETURN OF PLAYOFF ANTHONY DAVIS
Considering we don’t know for sure whether LeBron’s high ankle sprain has completely healed or not until he hits the court, Anthony Davis playing at the elite level of last year’s playoffs is the key to a Lakers’ championship.
In the last three games he’s played, Davis has averaged 32.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks in 41.1 minutes per game, while shooting 45.2% from the field, 33.3% from three, and 78.4% from the line. Those stats compare favorably to last year’s playoff stats: 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.4 blocks in 46.6 minutes per game, while shooting 57.1% from the field, 38.3% from three, and 83.2% from the line.
Watching Anthony Davis finally shoot and defend at the same elite level he did during last year’s playoffs gives Lakers fans legitimate hope the purple and gold can still rally and run the gauntlet to repeat as NBA champions.
THE EMERGENCE OF ANDRE DRUMMOND
Signed as a free agent from the buyout market, Andre Drummond has struggled at times to find his role and comfort zone playing with the Lakers during the 19 games he’s played with LA with LeBron and AD injured.
With the return of Anthony Davis, Andre has finally started to figure things out, averaging 18.0 points, 14 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 28.6 minutes per game, shooting 62.5% from the field and 50.0% from the line. That is a dramatic improvement over his first 17 games when he averaged just 11.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 blocks in 24.3 minutes per game while shooting 52.0% from the field and 64.3% from the line.
The important of Drummond finally posting double-doubles like the 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game he averaged for the Cavs this season cannot be overstated. The Lakers suddenly have a playoff starting center.
THE STAR POWER OF TALEN HORTON-TUCKER
After refusing to include Talen Horton-Tucker in a trade for Kyle Lowry, the Lakers finally started to see rewards for their faith in their 20-year old young star as THT has now elevated his play to include late game heroics.
His dramatic rebound and put back after a wild layup miss sealed the Lakers’ clutch win over the Nuggets and his 3-point dagger from the wing over childhood hero Derrick Rose clinched the Lakers’ win over the Knicks. With LeBron James, Dennis Schroder, and Alex Caruso out the last two games, THT has taken over the point and averaged aa 18-point, 10-assists double-double leading the Lakers to big wins over the Suns and Rockets.
With a 12-man rotation heading into the playoffs, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel is going to be challenged to find playing time for many of the role players on his bench but THT has shown he has to be part of that rotation.
MORE CONSISTENCY FROM KYLE KUZMA
More than any other role player on the Lakers, Kyle Kuzma is the team’s jack of all trades with his scoring, rebounding, playmaking, and defense, all of which at times leads to his posting inconsistent stats from game to game.
During his last 2 games, Kuzma has focused primarily on scoring with both James and Davis out, racking up games of 23 and 19 points in wins over the Knicks and Rockets, including a clutch game winning layup over Houston. Kyle averaged a team best 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.5 blocks in 32.4 minutes per game over the last 2 games while shooting 58.6% from the field, 45.5% from three, and 50.0% from the line.
Kuzma will be one of the first players off the bench for Frank Vogel in the playoffs and will hopefully continue to provide the Lakers with more consistency from his shooting, rebounding, assisting, and defending.
MORE SCORING PUNCH FROM ALEX CARUSO
Alex Caruso is another Lakers player who’s benefited from having more playing time and responsibility with LeBron James and Anthony Davis out with injuries. Lately, Alex has responded with aggression on offense.
Before reinjuring himself 7 minutes into the last game, Caruso posted back-to-back games where he scored 17 and 18 points in games with Phoenix and Portland, by far his two biggest scoring games in the regular season. Over that 2-game stretch without LeBron and AD, Caruso averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals in 33.5 minutes per game, while shooting 51.9% from the field, 60% from three, and 50.0% from the line.
While Alex is not a natural scorer, his looking more for his shot has to be another positive to add to his defense first resume. Caruso’s renewed aggressiveness is great news for an offensively challenged Lakers team.
VETERAN CLUTCH PLAY FROM WES MATTHEWS
Relegated to the bench a few weeks back when Frank Vogel tried to narrow his rotation, Wes Matthews displayed his savvy by staying ready and when given his chance showed he was still an elite defender and clutch player.
Wes’ clutch rebound and put back as time ran out enabled the Lakers to tie the Knicks and eventually win the game in overtime and his clutch steal sealed the team’s comeback win over the Rockets without Davis and James. Over the Lakers’ last five games, Matthews has averaged 6.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.4 blocks in 25.0 minutes per game while shooting 40.0% from the field, 38.1% from three, and 66.7% from the line.
The key for Matthews has been his defense, especially against bigger guards and wings. Over the last 5 games, Wes’ 105.6 defensive rating has been the 4th best on the team, often against the opposing team’s best scorers.
Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Wesley Matthews have all been stars in their role as the Lakers have regrouped and learned to win without superstar LeBron James.
With just 2 games left in the regular season, the Lakers are now looking like the juggernaut the rest of the league expected before AD and LeBron fell to injury and the likely 7th seed nobody in the NBA wants to meet in playoffs. The silver lining to playing without Davis for 30+ games and without James for 20+ games is many of the Lakers role players have been able to learn how to make clutch plays and win games without their superstars.
Heading into the playoffs, having role players capable of being stars in their roles may be exactly what the Lakers need to make the long and improbable journey from Play-In Tournament and 7th seed to NBA champions.
The recent 3-game win streak has been as godsend for the Los Angeles Lakers as we’ve seen a sighting of Playoff Anthony Davis, the emergence of Andre Drummond at the starting center, the star power of young THT, a more consistent Kyle Kuzma, a version of Alex Caruso looking for his shot, and the rejuvenation of clutch veteran Wesley Matthews. All promising signs that the Lakers are suddenly the most dangerous probably 7th seed the NBA playoffs have ever seen. Now all we need is a healthy LeBron James
Tom, one of our best viewers on the show Vee Garcia, is looking for all your Jared Dudley stuff. I found a couple of articles, any specific writings on your favorite 14th (or 15th) man?
Hey, Gerald.
Vee messaged me and I sent him my favorite article about Duds.
Well said, Tom. Everything you said is right on the money. I have said earlier in the season that the injury to AD at the time was a blessing in disguise. That’s because the role players need to be thrown into the battlefield without their superstars and have them deal with the bruises and scars the battlefield has to offer. Those scars are what will toughen them and help them forge a winning identity. You are absolutely right that our role players are rounding into form. That will only make the Lakers as formidable and dangerous as they come.
Thanks, Buba. For a visual version of what I tried to say in the article, look at those 5 best plays of the week I just posted. I mean we had some heroics from AD and rest of the team this week. Cutch plays guys made this week that they didn’t or couldn’t earlier in the year. AD, AD2, THT, KK, AC, WS. 6 guys who came up big.
I second and third that emotion!