On January 10, Beijing time, the Lakers lost to the Grizzlies at home 119-127, from the score point of view, the Lakers only lost 8 points, in fact, the Lakers lost about 28 points at most. In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies' bench performance was too tight, and the Lakers relied on the play of stars such as Reeves and Ellington to close the score. Although the Lakers narrowed the point difference to single digits, Vogel still did not let james, Westbrook, Anthony and other core players play, in fact, this reason is very simple.
Because the score is narrowed, it is the substitute players who try to chase back, the results should not be given to the starting players, in the NBA league, this is almost the consensus. And the most representative team is the Nets, whenever the Nets are behind by more than 15 points in the fourth quarter, Nash will most likely give up, send a substitute, even if there are only 6 points left in the last 2 minutes, he will let the bench play, because if you win, it is the credit of the bench, if you lose, it is also the starting pot.
Throughout this game, the Lakers have performed very average most of the time, the interior line is almost exploded, and there is no defense. In the third quarter, the Lakers scored 31 points in a single quarter, which was already very good, but it allowed the Grizzlies to score 42 points, and the Grizzlies players were in the three-second zone. And the Lakers' best performance period is 6 minutes before the end of the game, Vogel let Reeves, Ellington, Howard and other stars on the court, in fact, to put it bluntly, is to play garbage time. But unexpectedly, they chased it back. Under the tandem of Reeves, the Lakers blasted out a 21-0 super attack wave, which is the craziest scoring climax of the 21-22 season so far, but even if the Lakers bench players have performed so explosively, they still failed to win, which shows how poor the Performance of lakers starters, including James and Westbrook, is.
Although James played center at one point to let the Lakers win 4 consecutive wins, this is not a long-term solution, can be unexpected, but if used as a regular rotation lineup, it can only be said that the Lakers coaching staff is too incompetent. James is 2.03 meters tall, has been 37 years old, often and the opponent of the 2.10 meters of the big man hand-to-hand combat, not to be hit by the opponent is strange. Moreover, James has almost no rim protection ability, the interior line is almost open, and this loss to the Grizzlies speaks for itself. Jalan Jackson Jr. had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Clarke had 6 of 8 and Kyle Anderson had 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Lakers' main players dug too much hole in the first three quarters, which led to the bench players fully suppressing the Grizzlies, or facing the dilemma of losing. In the author's opinion, if the Lakers' interior line continues to be exploded in the next game, Vogel will definitely adjust the lineup, James can not play the No. 5 position, let him return to the familiar No. 3 or No. 4 position can be, but the idea of playing center, although strange, but too risky, at any time may be hanged by the opponent.
There's also a statistic that proves that James is not fit to play center. Among all the Players in the Lakers, James has the lowest plus-minus, cutting down the luxury data of 35+9+7, but the plus-minus is only -30, which is really bright. That is to say, when James was on the floor, the Lakers lost to the Grizzlies by 30 points, and a large part of the Grizzlies' points were scored on the inside.
Westbrook shot 2 of 12, Bradley 2 of 10, Munch 3 of 13 and Anthony 8 of 2. When the Lakers' outside line is not accurate, the team will most likely be exploded. Therefore, James can not play center, at least when impacting the playoffs, or to play steadily, the sword to go to the side is not a long-term solution.