With three consecutive wins, the Lakers are on the right track, and the previous problems look like they are going to be solved. This is the Lakers we are looking forward to, and this is the team that deserves people's respect.
In this game, the Lakers played an expected game, mainly with three highlights: first, Wei Shao's mistake was actually 0; second, Tucker finally swept away the previous haze and scored 19 points; third, Howard was reused in a certain period of time.
First, let's look at how the Kings have performed.
Fox and Hield performed very well, with Fox scoring 30 points and 6 assists and Hield having 26 points and 2 assists. Looking at the two-man shot, Fox shot 12-of-21, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, Hield 8-of-18, and 7-of-13 from three-point range. It can be seen from the composition of the two shots that the two formed an internal and external alliance, which caused great difficulties to the Lakers.
In addition to these two men, the Kings also have Barnes and Jones scoring in double figures, but their influence on the field is limited, and the Kings' attacks are mainly from Hield and Fox. The play of these two people is also in line with the characteristics of the Lakers' opponents. The lakers' defensive outside three-point and breakthrough effects are worrying, and these two problems continue to appear during the season, which have become a big feature. That said, lakers opponents generally make achievements in breakthroughs and three-pointers, and once a star player meets the Lakers, they usually play high-level personal data.
Hield also hit a shot against Westbrook in the fourth quarter, and Fox made a mistake after his last serve, losing a good game. The Kings lost in the final moments, which is understandable, because the control field is still worse than the Lakers. The two teams had a very good match, playing an extra-hour match, and today's King did not hold out in the last moments.
If the boat does not advance against the current, it will retreat, the king's control field will fail, and the opposite side must be the Lakers' control field success. At this point, we would like to praise James for his performance. James, who has been a starting center for a long time, does not show tiredness, but constantly strengthens himself, and King coach Gentry is right, no matter which position James plays, he is the strongest presence. So James staged another surge in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points in a single quarter.
The Lakers were able to make it to the fourth quarter and didn't spend as much as they did in previous games, and in addition to James going all out in the fourth quarter, it was also related to reusing Howard and Tucker's efficiency before the fourth quarter.
Let's start with Tucker, because his problems have been going on for too long, and the last time Tucker played well was before James came back. Tucker, after playing three good games, could no longer find his feelings, mainly because his crosshairs were gone. The main reason why the crosshairs are gone is that the positioning given by the team is very vague. The team's ambiguous positioning is mainly due to the fact that Vogel has been testing the relevant lineup and does not fix some playing style.
At the end of the day, Tucker's problem is still the manager's problem.
On the one hand, Tucker performed very poorly and occupied the field for a long time, on the other hand, the coach faced his poor performance, indifferent, and even encouraged it all the time, allowing it to affect the team as a whole. This shows that Vogel did not identify the Lakers' decline on the court as Tucker's inefficiency, and his main research direction is how to place James and the size of the lineup. Tucker is the smaller problem after this big problem, and Vogel believes that this is not a major problem but insists on believing Tucker.
It's not wrong to believe in young players, but it's not right to not coach them. Tucker is getting more and more unable to find direction on the field, and he still occupies a long time, and he will hesitate. If Vogel continues to use James' tallest small lineup, Tucker's loss will continue, but fortunately, he has finally changed his employment strategy.
Howard appeared and was reused.
Howard had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and was the Lakers' best frame protector in the third quarter, grabbing consecutive offensive rebounds in an offensive round. That is to say, Howard is still a very good role, he can fully play as a center, and play a good performance, which means that he can definitely help James reduce the burden.
In fact, James did not complain about his role as a center, not because James was polite and did not criticize the team's lineup, but because he really felt that he could do it. The same is true of the facts. However, the Lakers have not yet faced a strong team on the inside, and no matter from any point of view, James cannot continuously bargain in front of tall centers. The Lakers' use of Howard is a necessary matter, which cannot be determined by the current situation.
But in James's lineup for ten years, the center is a dispensable presence, which coincides with the fact that there are basically no really good teams inside today, so the Lakers can still be willful on this small lineup. It is wrong to be willful, not to be flexible, and Howard still has to use it for the necessary time. Because there is a substitute lineup of centers, it can be fully handed over to Wei Shao, and some of Wei Shao's vitality can be released to really reduce the burden on James.
It's clear tucker needs to work out as well, and his workout needs to increase his ball holding, not his finish in James' tactical session. For the use of Tucker, there is also a long-term patience. Tucker's efficiency is similar to Wei Shao's 0 mistakes, which are some low-probability events, but the Lakers can find some laws in these low-probability events so that low-probability events can be transformed into high-probability events.
Looking forward to the Lakers' winning streak continues, and look forward to the Lakers lineup being more stable and smooth.