Beijing time on December 26, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers lost to the Nets 115-122, lost this year's Christmas war, and because of this loss, the Lakers have now suffered 5 consecutive defeats, the Western ranking further declined, fell to the 7th in the West, at present, this Lakers do not say that this season to compete for the championship, is to enter the playoffs can not guarantee 100% can do. After the game, lakers interim coach David Fitzdale's words were helpless.
Asked what the Lakers can do with James alone in the starting lineup with a plus-minus (+9), Fitzdale said: "We can clone him." Do you know any well-known scientists? Can we copy a James? I do not know. It was a joke, of course, but Fitzdale's other words spoke to the current team's problem: "He plays so hard, we've been trying to find a way to get him through, and I hate that his efforts are wasted in defeat." His performance is amazing. I hate wasting it in defeat. ”
There is no mistake, the current Lakers, really can only rely on James, the whole game, James played 39 minutes, 25 shots 14, including 9 three-pointers 9 shots 3, free throws 9 shots 8, empty cuts 39 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. This is james's fourth consecutive game to score more than 30 points, about to turn 37 years old, he tried his best on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, but still could not lead the team to win, in the final analysis, the Lakers' current state is really too bad, especially they habitually dig holes in the first game, so that the team is always passive, this is not a problem that can be changed by James alone.
In this game, the Lakers trailed the Nets by 15 points in the first quarter by 23-38 points, and the whole game was once behind by 23 points, which was the fourth time the Lakers fell behind in the first quarter during the 5-game losing streak, looking back at the Lakers' first quarter performance in the last 5 games, losing 7 points to the Timberwolves 16-23, losing the Bulls by 6 points 22-28, winning the Suns by 1 point 25-24, losing the Spurs by 9 points 24-33, losing the Nets by 15 points 23-38, and losing a total of 36 points in the first quarter of the 5 games, there is no doubt that the opening pit has become a bad habit of the Lakers.
After the game, James was also blunt about this, he said: "I think I'm looking forward to tomorrow we all look back at the video together to see why we fell behind by 23 points, to see why we fell behind that and chased back, and tied the score with more than 40 seconds left." If there is a way or a reason for us not to dig such a big hole for ourselves, then we don't have to go back from those moments. It feels good to see that we can show some personality. Carmelo [Anthony] brought us together and said, 'We need to show some character on the pitch.' At one point they led by 23 points in the fourth quarter, and we responded collectively. We responded stormily, and we just couldn't turn the tables over. ”
As James said, the Lakers in the last 5 games, not without a chance to win, this game they once trailed by 23 points but eventually tied the score, they have the ability to break the wrist with any team, but only if they need to start better, work harder and be more positive, unfortunately, now except for James, others are too lacking in energy.
When it comes to how to change the status quo of the team, James's answer is a bit heartfelt, he said that he will review the video to see if he can play better, and in fact, James has played well enough, he just needs others to keep up with his rhythm, but James does not seem to have enough confidence to drive others, can only continue to force and squeeze his own energy.
Such a James can't help but think of the Kobe Bryant of that year, fighting until the Achilles tendon rupture barely brought the Lakers into the playoffs, but in the end it was powerless to change the fate of the team being swept out of the first round, the Lakers experienced a kobe tragedy, they should avoid James re-walking the old way of Kobe, the Lakers want to change the status quo, the best solution is definitely not to force out the full force of Zhan, but to find a way to activate others, whether it is to change the tactical play or to reinforce, for the Lakers, they must take action as soon as possible.