In an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers lost to the Heat 107-113, which was the second game of the Lakers' 6 consecutive away games in the East, in the face of the tough defensive Heat, the Lakers appeared to be very uncomfortable in the first half, not only their own offense failed to open, the defensive end was also full of loopholes, only in the first half, the Lakers fell behind by 17 points at 52-69, and at most they were 23 points behind, although in the end James and Westbrook led the Lakers to launch a Jedi counterattack, chasing the point difference to only 4 points, But in the end, it was a failure, and it was regrettable to lose.
After the game, the Lakers all believed that their sense of urgency came too late, and the Lakers only let the Heat score 44 points in the entire second half, and if they could come up with such a mentality and state at the beginning, then the outcome of the game might be different. In fact, the biggest problem with the Lakers in this game is a bad start, they let the Heat blast down 39 points in the first quarter of the game, but they only scored 25 points themselves. This shows that the Lakers' current starting lineup is problematic, of which Ariza is undoubtedly the biggest loophole.
In the whole game, Ariza started for 14 minutes, 1 point on 0-of-5 shooting, only grabbed 5 rebounds, and in the first quarter he played 7 minutes, 3 shots 0, the offensive end was not strong, and the defensive end was equally bad. And this game is actually a microcosm of Ariza's performance this season.
So far this season, Ariza has averaged 18 minutes per game, only 3.4 points and 3.4 rebounds, shooting only 33.3% from the field and shooting 31.6% from three-point range. But even if the performance is so poor, Lakers coach Vogel still gave Ariza enough trust, in the past 4 games, the Lakers chose to let Ariza play the starter, the result of Ariza in 4 games, averaging 20.5 minutes per game can only get 2.3 points 3.5 boards, shooting 13.6%, three-point shooting 18 shots 2, shooting 11.1%, the state is simply a mess, it is obvious that using Ariza as a starting point is a very bad decision.
This is because Ariza's starter not only did not help the Lakers, but also delayed the play of other players, of which munch had the greatest impact. In today's game, Munch played 23 minutes off the bench, scoring just 7 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals on 3-of-6 shooting. In his last four games, Munch has been playing as a substitute, and his personal data is: 6 of 12 points, 4 of 6 scored 10 points, 4 of 9 scored 10 points, 3 of 6 scored 7 points, and only 41 points in 4 games combined.
In fact, looking at the efficiency, Munch is still good, but compared to the performance of the previous starter, he can't move to bomb 20+, and now Munch has completely lost the style of the new JR Smith version of the Lakers before, and it is obvious that because he can't play with James, many of Munch's advantages can't be played normally. It has to be said that replacing Munch with Ariza to play the starter not only pits the Lakers, but also munch.
Now, the Lakers need to worry most is not whether Ariza can pick up, at his age of 36, the Lakers should not have counted on him too much, but Munch has proved many times before that he is worth letting the Lakers give him more opportunities, such opportunities not only refer to giving more time, but also to put him in a more suitable lineup, at present, Munch is more suitable for appearing in the starting lineup with James and others.
After losing today's game, the Lakers' record has reached 23-24, the winning percentage has fallen below 50% again, and the eighth ranking in the West is not satisfactory enough, considering that the hardships of the Eastern Conference's consecutive away games and the return of thick eyebrows still need a little time, Vogel may really need to reconsider the starting lineup.