Beijing time on January 29, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers lost to the Hornets 114-117 on the road, suffering 2 consecutive losses, this game due to James and Davis due to injury absence, the Lakers' inner line is almost unavailable, so many fans before the game predicted that Howard should be able to start, but in the end Lakers coach Vogel chose to let Jordan Jr. start.
Vogel's choice has once again caused heated discussion, and the final result has also proved that Jordan Jr. is not much of a defensive help to the Lakers. In the whole game, Jordan Jr. played 19 minutes, 2 shots 1 to get 4 points, 7 rebounds and 4 fouls, free throws 8 shots 2 of 2, basically belongs to the offensive end can make free throws but can not score, the defensive end can only use fouls to stop the opponent's level, whether it is to protect the frame or interfere with the opponent's shooting are done very poorly.
After finding that Jordan Jr. did not give up, Vogel actually made adjustments, especially in the key fourth quarter, Vogel chose to hide Jordan Jr., more use Stanley Johnson to top the inside line, directly with the five small lineups and the Hornets, but the result of this is that the Lakers continue to lose rebounds, and the outside players after being passed by the Hornets players, the inside line does not have a big man to interfere and delay, can only helplessly watch the Hornets players easily score on the basket.
In the final stage of the fourth quarter, the Lakers actually did a very good job on the offensive end, and Westbrook, Reeves and others all scored consecutively to catch up with the score, but they often let the Hornets easily burst to the basket to score, and they could not really defend the opponent. In the whole game, the Lakers lost 58 points on the inside line alone, while they only scored 38 points on the inside line, that is to say, the Lakers actually lost on the inside line, if they can better limit the Hornets' scores on the inside line, then the result of the game may be completely different.
And the Lakers are actually not unable to do this, Vogel can choose Howard, but he does not have so much, in the absence of James and thick eyebrows, Jordan Jr. frame unfavorable, Vogel did not give Howard a minute of playing time, directly hid him in the snow, many fans believe that if Howard was present in the fourth quarter, the Lakers would not lose so many rebounds, nor would they let the Hornets score points on the inside line so easily.
It should be noted that this is the second time howard has been refrigerated by Vogel in the last 3 games, and judging from the Lakers' latest injury list, Howard is very healthy, but Vogel just won't give him a chance. Such a situation is not recent, but a problem that has existed throughout the season. Since returning to the Lakers, Howard seems to have been reused by Vogel, and many times Vogel would rather be on a defensive colander like Jordan Jr. than reuse Howard, which has led to many fans laughing, is Howard having a vendetta against Vogel?
According to the latest news, thick eyebrows have successfully lost weight, which shows that in the next game, he may play more to play the fourth position, the Lakers may still need a pure center to go inside the hand-to-hand combat, no matter how you look at it, Howard is a better choice than Jordan Jr., his presence can also make James and thick eyebrows less depleted on the inside, whether Vogel is biased against Howard or not, for the team, howard should be given more opportunities.