In the Lakers and Eagles game, the Lakers' performance on the offensive end was very good, the team scored 71 points in the first half, shooting 71.4%, and the team also took the lead in the score with efficient performance on the offensive end. In the second half of the game, although the Lakers' offensive efficiency declined, they still had a good performance in this regard. Throughout the game, the Lakers scored a total of 121 points, which is more than the team's average score per game this season, while their shooting rate was as high as 54%, and they shot 15 three-pointers on the outside, shooting 42.9%. And the core player of the team Davis scored 27 points, Westbrook also had 20 points, Munch scored 33 points, the three players combined to get 80 points, the performance is very eye-catching, but in the case of shooting 15 three-pointers, while the three players combined to get 80 points is useless, the Lakers still lost the game on the road with an 8-point disadvantage, and the main reason for the team's loss is that Vogel does not reuse Howard.
Why, let's first look at the data, the Lakers' performance on the defensive end is very bad, especially on the inside. The data shows that the Lakers lost 62 points in the paint area, allowing the Hawks to shoot 73.8% (31 of 42 shots) under the basket, and the Lakers' defense in the paint area was not ideal, and could not limit the Hawks' play on the inside.
In the final quarter of the game, Trae Young and Okonwu can easily dismantle the Lakers' defensive system with a single high block, and then complete the score on the inside. In this game, Okonwu had 12 points and 3 rebounds on 6-of-6 shooting in the final quarter, and the Lakers had no way to take him.
In addition to Okonwu, the Hawks' other players such as Trae Young, Pogdan and Collins can easily score on the inside, and the Lakers cannot limit their play. In the final quarter, the Lakers gave the opponent a lot of easy scoring opportunities on the inside, and when the opponent scored consecutive points on the inside, the team did not make changes in defensive strategy, and Vogel insisted on using a lineup that was not good at defense and did not let Howard play. And this persistence also made the team pay a price, the Lakers lack of players who can defend on the inside line, which also allows the Eagles to score on the inside line many times, and the poor defense on the inside line has also become the main reason for the team to lose the game.
I don't know if you noticed, in the third quarter of the game, Davis received his fourth personal foul, in which case Vogel should have replaced Davis and then let Howard replace him as an interior lineman. But Vogel didn't do that, insisting that Davis stay on the court with 4 fouls on his back.
Too many fouls also caused Davis's defensive quality to decline, after Davis was trapped by the impact of fouls, the Hawks also attacked the interior line more, Davis because of too many fouls, he did not dare to go to the intensity, and the Hawks seized such an opportunity to complete the inside score consecutively. The Eagles also managed to close the score with their kills on the inside, and in the fourth quarter they completed the counter-attack and maintained their advantage to the end.
Although Howard's form in this game is not very good, but as a defensive center, his height and bounce are still here, if Vogel reuses Howard in the game, instead of letting Johnson defend the opponent's fifth position, it may not turn out this way, and the Lakers' interior defense will not be so bad. In the author's opinion, in the case of the explosion on the inside line, Vogel still does not reuse Howard, or uses his favorite lineup, which is also the main reason why the Lakers lost the game.
At this stage of this Lakers team, their offense has no problem, every game they have the strength to get high scores, and the problem is in the defensive end, the team's defensive ability is insufficient, there is a problem in Vogel's rotation, Howard's tactical status in the team is too low, in the face of a team with tall centers, Vogel does not know how to respond, this is the Lakers' current problem, if not solved, then the team is difficult to get out of the current predicament, the losing streak may continue.