James vs Timberwolves highlights
The final whistle sounded, the Lakers' home stadium was dazzling, but the Lakers will be calm. Whether it is LeBron James or the victory hero Cameron Anthony, Malik Munch, everyone has no expression on their faces, neither the relief of death nor the joy of victory.
It is no wonder that facing the Timberwolves, who lacked D'Angelo Russell and Carl Anthony Towns, the Lakers only narrowly won 108-103 at home, which could not satisfy them in any way. The Lakers did repay the revenge of the previous two encounters and defeats to the opponent, but compared with the lineups and performances of the two sides, it was the Lakers who were the winning party.
A giant team with a salary + luxury tax that cost a total of $200 million, faced with a small market team with two major top-paid players, could only rely on the 37-year-old man's fight and the play of the basic salary army to win thrillingly. Saying they're a championship-winning team, probably no one really believes it.
The Lakers' problems have really not been new, from the Lakers offseason decided to introduce Russell Westbrook, now these problems have been doomed, the Lakers executives expressed confidence in solving the problems brought by Westbrook, but it turns out that do not try to compete with objective laws, and now the Lakers have fallen into a dead cycle.
For a championship-winning team, how to maximize the use of limited salary space is a science. Unfortunately, as a former super agent, Pelinka only learned how to maximize the benefits of clients in contract negotiations, but did not learn to maximize the use of salary space in the operation of the team.
In the middle of last season, the Lakers had the opportunity to bring in Kyle Lowry, and it is reported that the Lakers and Raptors have entered deep negotiations, but the negotiations failed because Pelinka was unwilling to put Talon Horton Tucker in the deal. In the offseason, the Lakers sacrificed depth to bring in Westbrook, while choosing Tucker between Tucker and Caruso, giving Tucker a three-year, $31 million contract extension.
Last year's offseason Pelinka's operation was questioned a lot, but Pelinka always believed that Westbrook's joining can support the Lakers' present, and Tucker's stay can support the future of the Lakers. The result? The Lakers don't have the present, and they can't see where the hope for the future is.
Against the Timberwolves, Wei Shao scored 20 points and 5 assists on 7-of-16 shooting, and the data seems to be passable. But everyone who has watched the game knows what Wei Shao did today, he made 9 mistakes in the whole game, and changed the trick show operation.
In the forced breakthrough, Wei Shao either hit people and received offensive fouls, and the temperament of the reckless man was fully displayed. Or it's a mistake in conceding a ball, a mistake in passing, and a waste of a great opportunity.
In the counterattack, Wei Shao either made a mistake in getting out of his hand, or a mistake in losing the ball by the butter hand, or he was too careless to be directly snatched, and all kinds of nonsense mistakes continued. Because of the mistake, the Lakers gave the opponent 21 points.
Tucker's problems are also obvious, Tucker has just returned to perform well, and has been praised for "great progress". But when James and Westbrook can play, Tucker has no ball in his hand, and the problem that he can't play without the ball is obvious. Tucker hit a superstar mid-range dry shot today, but what the Lakers need is not him to perform this offense, but to put empty shots and counter-attack layups into the basket. Insiders revealed that before the start of the season, the Lakers considered making Tucker start because of his fast speed, long arms and full defensive potential. But looking at Tucker's defensive performance now, he is still too far from becoming a qualified defender.
Originally the Lakers are a salary space deformity, the lineup is top-heavy team, when the team's first high salary, the fourth high salary not only can not provide too much help, but drag the team's hind legs, coupled with the team's third highest salary knee injury can not play, the Lakers' condition can be imagined, they can only rely on the 37-year-old James and a group of base salary players.
In the past month, James has been forced to almost serve as a full-time center, no way, Davis can't play, Jordan Jr. is useless, James can only play more centers. Many would say that Vogel should consider letting Dwight Howard go up to the top for a while, but the problem is that as long as Howard plays and the space is compressed, Westbrook's performance will be affected. In order to let Wei Shao play as much as possible, the Lakers can only play five small like the original Rockets, which is a dead loop.
So in recent times, the Lakers' interior line has become an opponent's cash machine, losing 15 defensive rebounds in a game is commonplace, and even the unknown Reed has also cut 23 points and 11 rebounds on the Lakers' interior line. Pushing forward, playing the Spurs, Spurs bench Diop scored 30 points on 11 shots.
James, who plays the center, has tried his best, the offensive end as a small ball center crazy attack basket does not need to be mentioned, the defensive end James while playing the arrow figure to prevent the ball holder to cut the ball, while also in the defense counterattack desperately to chase back to destroy the opponent's fast attack.
At 7 minutes and 12 seconds in the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves shouted a timeout, and the camera was given to James, who was bending over and on his knees and gasping for breath. Most of the team's burden falls on James, and it's no wonder he's tired.
At the end of the second quarter, when the Lakers team walked to the locker room, James also had a verbal dispute with assistant coach Handy, which was inconsistent, essentially not because James sent his opponent a 2+1 before the end of the half, but James tried his best, but the team kept losing rebounds and unable to pull apart the frustration caused by the point difference.
The Lakers' luck today is that Munch, Anthony, and Bradley stood up at a critical moment. Munch's three-pointer when the team was behind, Anthony's 3+1 in key moments, Bradley's empty cut layup and free throw when he pulled away the point gap shared a lot of pressure on James. These 3 people have received a basic salary this season, of which Bradley is still a non-guaranteed contract, and before this weekend, the Lakers need to decide whether to convert Bradley's contract to a guaranteed contract.
Role players are certainly a good thing, but the problem is that it is definitely not these role players who determine the lakers' ceiling. At the end of the day, the Lakers will have to look at Westbrook, Tucker's play (or trade value) and when and after Davis' injury.
In the next 10 days, the Lakers' schedule is not particularly difficult, they have to play the Kings twice, but also play the Hawks, Grizzlies, Nuggets. Among them, the Kings, Eagles, and Nuggets are all unevenly arranged due to injuries or epidemics, and the Lakers have a chance to win. After that, the Lakers have to play against the powerful Jazz and the Pacers with a seriously disorganized lineup. After playing the Pacers, the Lakers will embark on a grueling 6-game trip to the East, where they have to play against the magic in the rebuild, the Heat that lacks Adebayo, and then challenge the Nets, 76ers, Hornets, and Hawks.
Counting down, in the next 13 games, the Lakers have 7 opponents with a winning percentage of more than 50%, and only one back-to-back, they have the opportunity to guarantee at least a 50% win rate. However, if only to guarantee a win rate of about 50%, it is difficult for the Lakers to significantly improve the ranking, they are now ranked 7th in the West, have a chance to rise to 5th place in the West, but 4.5 wins away from the 4th place Grizzlies in the West.
To get up to 4th place in the West as soon as possible, the Lakers can only hope that Davis will recover smoothly from the injury and recover in only one month. If Davis recovers well, he is expected to make a comeback in a home game against the Pacers or on a six-game trip to the East. At that time, the Lakers should also enter the sprint stage.