This season there has been some rookie pecking in the West, except for the top three Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies who are strong enough, the other teams are unstable. Even the Dallas Mavericks, who have entered the state of heroism after 2022, have now begun to drop the chain, and the Lone Rangers have lost the Orlando Magic at the bottom of the league back-to-back away, and have exploded a shocking cold.
Although the two big players, Kristaps Porzingis and Hardaway Jr., are both sidelined due to injury, and it is the second game back-to-back, it is reasonable to say that the overall strength of the Lone Ranger is far beyond magic, and it should have been easily won. However, the Lone Rangers were sleepwalking in the second quarter, being overtaken by the magic of the home game, and after that they played the role of chasers. Although the star Luka Doncic cut a triple-double of 34 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, even the plus-minus was the highest in the team, but the teammates around him were too weak, resulting in a bitter defeat on the road.
Even if they are still in the top six in the West, the possibility of directly reaching the playoffs is very large, but if the Lone Ranger's goal is to compete for the championship, then there are indeed many problems with this lineup, and three of them have been bothering them for several years. First of all, the Lone Ranger's interior line is really weak, and Porzingis is really powerful when he can play, but he is really too brittle. And once Porzingis is sidelined, the Other Interior Players of the Lone Rangers are basically useless. Supposedly, the Magic's record is at the bottom of the league, and the inside strength will certainly not be too strong, and as a result, the Wagner brothers jointly scored 32 points, Wendell Carter got a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Mohammed Bamba also scored 10 points and 7 rebounds, which was simply unstoppable.
If it is only the defense is sparse, the offensive end can respond, but it is not enough, but the lone ranger's several interior offensive ends are also not counted on. Starting center Dwight Powell only scored 8 points, and Maxi Kleber in the fourth position is a war criminal-level performance, the magic crazy bag Doncic at the key moment of the final quarter, Kleber has many empty shooting opportunities, which can help the Lone Ranger to equalize or even reverse the score. As a result, Kléber did not hit a single shot, which directly led to the Lone Ranger losing the game. The irony is that Markis Chris, who has a base salary in this game, is in good shape, with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks, and as a result, he actually sat off the court at the critical moment, and he really can't understand what the Lone Ranger coaching team thinks.
Speaking of defense, let's look at the offense, Doncic is strong, but the ability of his teammates to handle the ball is relatively poor. On the Lone Ranger side, except for Doncic, no one else assisted more than 3 times. This is enough to reflect how single the players of the Lone Ranger are now, and the opponent's defensive strategy is also quite clear, that is, a large number of bags and assist in the defense of Doncic, anyway, the other people of the Lone Ranger can not do anything other than receive the ball and eat cake under the basket.
Originally, another point guard this season, Jaylen Brunson, improved a lot, and Lone Ranger coach Jason Kidd also adjusted the lineup, allowing Brunson to start more and appear on the court at the same time as Doncic. But Brunson's personal offense may be good, especially the abuse of the dish is a good hand, but it seems difficult for him to lead his teammates. Although the Lone Ranger's magic match is at the bottom of the league, most of them are spider-man players with tall arms, which can be called Brunson's nemesis. If you only look at the post-game statistics, Brunson got 15 points and 4 rebounds, which is certainly not bad, but he ignores the impact of the situation on the court, not to mention that as a point guard only gave 2 assists, it is really a bit unreasonable.
In fact, Doncic not only has to score and organize a catch on the field, but the vast majority of lone rangers players can only act as an endpoint, and once Doncic is strictly guarded or not present, he will be completely locked by the other side. Originally, the Lone Ranger had Little Hadaway in it, although he had serious nerve knife attributes, but once the Super God Mode was turned on, Little Hardaway was still the most powerful deputy around Doncic, and also helped the Lone Ranger win many games. However, against the Warriors, Hardaway Jr. left the court early due to serious injuries, and it is unknown when he will return, and it is obviously difficult for the Lone Ranger to find his replacement.
So from the perspective of the last quarter of the game, the opponent will study the Lone Ranger thoroughly, as long as the package Iscic, the other players of the Lone Ranger can only do direct shooting, plus this team's three-point shooting rate ranks at the bottom of the league, which creates a vicious circle. Don't forget that magic is the bottom of the league, and if the Lone Ranger encounters a strong team that is even more equal or better, such a problem will be more obvious. With Doncic at the bottom, and the West's current competition is really not so fierce, it should not be a problem for the Lone Rangers to become a perennial playoff team. But if you want to break through the first round early, or even return to the championship ranks, if the problems mentioned cannot be solved, it will be really difficult to ascend to the sky.