On January 16, Beijing time, the Los Angeles Lakers went to Denver to challenge the Nuggets, and finally defeated the Nuggets 96-133, suffering three consecutive defeats.
After the game, the major media began to criticize the Lakers, first of all, the first American Jamhei Skip Bayless, after the game Skip Bayless said: "LeBron's Lakers just suffered the worst loss of the season, they actually lost to the Nuggets by 37 points, say it may not believe it, last season the Lakers' defensive efficiency ranked first in the league, but this season fell to the league's 17th." James' defensive victory contribution value ranks outside the 200th place, and he will only attack now, not defend at all. ”
In this game, James played 31 minutes, 23 shots 9, three-pointers 8 of 2, only got 25 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, plus or minus -17, from the perspective of the whole game, James did not defend, and this is also one of the key factors for the Lakers to lose, and the key factor for the Lakers to lose is defense, in the case of their own offense is not smooth, there is not enough defensive pressure, losing is not an accidental factor, but an inevitable factor.
In this game, in order to limit Jokic, Vogel changed the starting lineup and put Howard in the starting lineup again, but the effect was not very obvious, in this game Jokic played 28 minutes, 7 of 12 shots, 2 of 1 three-pointers, 17 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists, actually let the Nuggets shoot 57.5% of the three-point shooting rate (23 of 40), so that half of the Nuggets' points are from three-pointers, you know that this season's Nuggets' three-point shooting rate is only ranked 21st in the league. Worse than the Lakers (15th in three-point shooting percentage of the Lakers this season), and that's all from the Lakers' defense.
After the game, Howard said: "We have to keep a competitive spirit and definitely can't give up the game easily. We never got any improvement in the problems on the defensive end, which is why we lose every night. I'm very disappointed with such a loss, everyone knows that we have to improve our defense as soon as possible, but it shouldn't just be lip service, it should be action. ”
Howard has won the best defensive player three times, even if it is now affected by age and injury, but in the interior defense, it is still very diligent, in the face of the Lakers today's defense, Howard did not leave any face for his teammates.
Wei Shao, after the game, also criticized his teammates, Wei Shao said: "We have to play harder, today the opponent obviously played much harder than us, it is so simple." For me, once I set foot on this field, I will give my all, otherwise it is better not to play. ”
There are two meanings in the expression of Wei Shao and Howard, and these two meanings are also the biggest pain points of the Lakers.
The first is the Lakers' defensive problem, the current Lakers have Munch's play, Anthony's stable output on the outside, plus James and Wei Shao, as long as they can maintain a good state, such offensive strength is indeed good, but in defense, the Lakers do not do a very good job.
Offense relies on talent and personal ability, but defense relies on the hard work and enthusiasm of players, it is clear that today's Lakers have not done these two things, and it can even be said that the Lakers have lost this season, mostly because of the lack of these two factors.
Finally, There is James, today's James defense is indeed a huge colander, from the expression of Westbrook and Howard, it can also be seen that for the reasons for today's loss, there is still some resentment james.
And Howard and Westbrook said that the lakers' biggest pain point at present, in the league, the team has no defense, want to win, too unrealistic, just like the Timberwolves, with Edwards, Towns and other talented players, but every season is losing, not because the team does not attack, a large part is because there is no defense, so every year can only compete with the rebuilding team for the title, if in the next half season, the Lakers are still such a defensive attitude, let alone into the playoffs, Not even a place in the play-offs could be won.