Trying to get a handle on Lakers
To panic or not seems to be on the minds of Lakers fans because of their team’s uneven play during the NBA’s restart.
Here are five reasons not to be dismayed with the Lakers after falling to a 2-3 record in the seeding games.
Five reasons not to be alarmed
1. Don’t worry about LeBron James not playing against the Rockets because of a sore groin. This was about resting him and not playing James in back-to-back games when the Lakers have already secured the best record in the Western Conference. James will be more than ready when the playoffs start Aug. 17. James will probably play in at least one of the final three seeding games. “He’s just dealing with some soreness,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.James is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against Indiana.
2. Anthony Davis can be a beast when he wants to. He had just 17 points and 12 rebounds against Houston in 30 minutes during the loss Thursday. But Davis has dominated at times too. He had 34 points and eight rebounds against the Clippers, and 42 points and 12 rebounds against the Jazz.
3. Perhaps Kyle Kuzma’s play against the Rockets showed that he can be that third option on offense the Lakers need. He started in place of James and showcased his talents. Kuzma had 21 points on eight-for-16 shooting. “Obviously when those guys are out, I get more playing time, I get more touches, I get more looks,” Kuzma said. “I’m just trying to do whatever I can to win games and help this team win a championship.”
4. The Lakers were good on the backboards again against the Rockets. The Lakers had 49 rebounds, 13 offensively. Those rebounds have been a big part of their offense.
5. Lakers rookie Talen HortonTucker performed well in his 19 minutes against the Rockets, giving the franchise hope that the 6-4 guard can be a solid player. He had 10 points on four-for-six shooting, with two rebounds and one assist, and played with intensity throughout the game.
Five reasons to worry
1. Can the Lakers make some shots? They shot 39% from the field and 30.6% from three-point range in a victory over the Clippers in the first game but coud not reproduce those percentages until making 46.1% from the field against the Houston, although they shot two of 19 from long range. “The law of averages plays out,” Vogel said about his team’s poor shooting, “and I’m OK with getting all these misses out of the way right now.”
2. Where is the offensive continuity? Since entering the bubble, the Lakers can’t seem to score. In their first four seeding games, the Lakers averaged just 99.3 points per game, ranking them last among the 22 teams in Orlando. They were last in field-goal shooting (39.8%) and three-point shooting (25.2%) entering the game against the Rockets. The Lakers had the sixth-worst plusminus rating among the 22 teams at -6.0.
3. It’s time for Danny Green to start playing as well as he did when he won titles with the Spurs and Raptors. Green had 10 points on fivefor-seven shooting against the Rockets. But in the first four restart games, Green was averaging just 5.8 points and shooting 32.1% from the field and 20% from three-point range.
4. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is starting at guard because Avery Bradley opted not to play because of his son’s health. Caldwell-Pope, however, has been inconsistent. He had 10 points against the Rockets on four-for-seven shooting. But in the first four seeding games, CaldwellPope was averaging 6.4 points and making 37% of his shots and 23.1% of his three-pointers. He was a minus-8.3 in the plus-minus department.
5. The Lakers have played with a purpose just once, and that was in the first game against the Clippers. Since then, the intensity seems to be lacking. They have to stop using the excuse about trying to find the rhythm they had in March.
TONIGHT
VS. INDIANA When: 3 p.m. PDT On the air: TV: Spectrum SportsNet, TNT; Radio: 710, 1330. Update: The Lakers, who have lost back-to-back games, have not lost three consecutive games since Dec. 17-25 this season. The Lakers, who have listed LeBron James (groin) and Alex Caruso (neck) as questionable, have been defeated by double digits in the last two. The Pacers have seven players averaging double figures, led by T.J. Warren (19.6), who scored a career-high 53 points against the 76ers last week.