Home 116-131 defeat to the Bucks, three quarters behind 24 points, so that the alphabet brother only played 35 minutes to shoot 17 of 20, three-pointers 2 of 2, slashed 44 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists, which is a humiliating result for the Lakers and James, the All-Star game weekend has not yet begun, their season prospects are getting dimmer and dimmer, in the case of Westbrook's offensive efficiency continues to be sluggish, the "Zhan Mei" combination that once joined forces to climb to the top of the league also seems to have lost its former dominance.
The playoffs would rather meet the sun than fight the Warriors! Why are the Lakers so confident?
After swallowing the loss of this game, the Lakers fell out of the top eight of the West with a record of 26 wins and 29 losses, and properly entered the playoff range, and today before the game, TNT commentator O'Neal talked about the current situation of the Lakers in the studio.
"I heard from within the Lakers that a very authoritative source revealed that the Lakers are satisfied with their current ranking (ninth in the West). James they would rather hit the Suns in the first round than play the Warriors in the first round. ”
On the strength of the book lineup, the Lakers do rank number one in the league, but as we all know, the existence of Westbrook has completely disrupted the original tactical system, and the 37-year-old James has been unable to fill the big hole dug by his teammates on his own, at this time he began to pick a playoff opponent, I don't know if it is confident or overconfident.
So where is the lakers' capital to play the Suns in the playoffs? Objectively speaking, I would like to attribute it to the stubbornness of the fallen nobles, on the one hand, although they are no longer the original championship team, but after all, the foundation of the two superstars of James and Thick Brow is still there, no matter how bad the regular season is, in the playoffs, you can still fight any strong team, James has averaged 29.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game this season, and it is completely predictable to once again incarnate as "full strength Zhan".
On the other hand, compared to the Warriors, the Suns are indeed more like a "paper tiger" that is not useful, Paul's career has verified his law of dropping the chain at key moments, there is no Curry's unstoppable scoring explosiveness, Booker has improved significantly, but he still lacks leadership temperament, except for last year's Finals, there is no successful experience, plus last year's Finals was reversed by the Bucks, the Suns are currently 44 wins and 10 losses in the league, but it is understandable that they are despised by most people.
The gap between attack and defense on the inside line is obvious, and James has his own calculations in mind
"James and Thick Brow can play inside twin towers, or they can form a pair of outside lines, their attack and defense are top-notch, and I even think the combination of O'Neal and Kobe Bryant will be blown up by James and Thick Brow." This is the view expressed by Perkins, who is an ESPN commentator, in recent days, it can be seen that the most terrifying part of the Zhan Mei combination is that these two can do both inside and outside, once the two join forces to lead a set of five small lineups in the penalty area, then the sun's weakest link is immediately exposed.
According to statistics, almost all of the Suns' data this season ranks in the top ten of the league, only the average of 4.3 blocks per game ranks seventh in the league, and the interior defense is too dependent on Ayton, who has rarely played brightly this season, even if McGee and Billy Boy join forces, it is difficult to resist the repeated impact of James and Thick Brow in seven games.
In addition, before the trade deadline, Westbrook is likely to be sold by the Lakers, as long as it is successfully removed, in exchange for some practical shooters and blue-collar workers, the Lakers are easily fully revitalized, James has been in the league for nearly 20 years, under the premise of having healthy available resources around him, he will never disappoint, giving up the Warriors against the Suns is not inexhaustible.
Looking back at the Rankings of the West, the bottom five are all rotten teams, no matter how wilted the Lakers, it is impossible to fall out of the top ten, they have the opportunity to kill step by step from the playoffs, when James can cross the current hurdle and finish the regular season in a healthy mode of all members, in order to enter the stage where they really show their fists.