On January 3, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, the Los Angeles Lakers sat at home to meet the Minnesota Timberwolves, fiercely fought in the fourth quarter, the Lakers finally won 108-103, which was their third victory in the last four games. After this campaign, the Lakers' current record has reached 19 wins and 19 losses, and the winning rate has reached 50%, ranking 7th in the West.
4-3 wins is undoubtedly good news for the Lakers, who have been mired in the quagmire some time ago. Not only does this keep them from being pushed too far away from the playoff spot race, but it also helps stabilize the mood and atmosphere within the team. But is this enough to prove that the Lakers have stepped out of the decline of some time ago and embarked on a winning path? I'm afraid it's not enough
The Lakers have defeated the Rockets, Trail Blazers and Timberwolves in their last three wins. The Rockets have been a rebuilding team since trading Harden; the Blazers, despite sitting on super-guards like Lillard, have performed badly this season, currently ranking second from the bottom in the West with only 13 wins and 22 losses, and they have lost two of the main players McCollum, Nurkic and Covington in that game; the Timberwolves needless to say, they have only made the playoffs once in the past decade or so. In other words, the Lakers' past three wins are largely due to the fact that the opponent is too weak and the gold content is insufficient.
In fact, although James has been in a heroic state since his comeback, they still have a hard time winning against strong teams like the Suns, Nets and Bulls.
As the team with the deepest championship heritage in the history of the league, the Lakers have been pinned high hopes on by fans since the beginning of the season, especially after the introduction of star players such as Westbrook, Anthony, howard, etc., and are considered to be the favorite to win the championship. However, so far this season, the team has not been able to perform as expected due to a number of factors such as unsmooth run-in, frequent injuries and the new crown epidemic.
In recent times, as the number one star in the team, James has taken the initiative to stand up, not only changing the way of playing, but also challenging the unfamiliar No. 5 position, and in the past 8 games, he has handed over the all-around data of averaging 34.8 points, 10.4 boards and 6 assists per game, and the shooting rate has reached a staggering 56.8%.
But a team that is determined to compete for the championship also needs a veteran who has turned 37 years old to stand up for Carry to barely win on the weak teams such as the Rockets, Blazers and Timberwolves, which is obviously not enough. Even if the thick eyebrow brother is watching from the sidelines because of the injury, with the depth of the Lakers' lineup, someone should be able to stand up and help James share the pressure, especially As one of the big three, Wei Shao.
Westbrook was the Lakers' most important signing last summer, and he was selected for the All-Star and Best Team many times in his career, and even won the MVP award, but since joining the team, his performance has been unsatisfactory. So far this season, although he has averaged 19.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game, he has only shot 30.2% from three-point range and averaged as many as 4.8 turnovers per game.
Last summer, the Lakers had the opportunity to introduce DeRozan, but the team management obviously paid more attention to the ball holding ability and organizational ability, thinking that he could help the "elderly" James share some of the pressure, but the season has played so far, and finally need James to stand up and lead the team to win. In contrast, DeRozan, who joined the Bulls, played the best performance of his career so far, and staged a wonderful scene back-to-back continuous killing. I have to say that people have to die more than people, and goods have to be thrown away!
I don't know when Wei Shao will be able to fully integrate into the team's system and play the expected performance of the team and fans, if he can't integrate for a long time, the Lakers' prospects for this season's championship may not be optimistic.