On February 23, Beijing time, the Lakers formed a big three this season, thought they could make a big fuss, but they didn't expect that halfway through the season, even the top eight in the West could not enter. This also verifies the prediction of fans before the start of the season, the Lakers' "nursing home" is not lost to the opponent, but to time and injury. After 58 games, the Lakers exposed many problems, the first is the lack of three-point shooting ability, Munch was not a three-point shooter, but in the Lakers' system, he became an outside offensive firepower point.
Second, the defense is too weak, and the Lakers' single defense, conversion defense or overall defensive ability this season are not satisfactory. Of the Big Three, Westbrook's defense is often criticized, while James has had multiple forked-waist defenses this season, while Reeves, Bradley and Johnson's efforts on the defensive end are more satisfactory, and the positive and negative values of the main players have repeatedly appeared to be worse than the bench players. These are the two big problems that the Lakers currently have.
Among them, Westbrook's performance is the most disappointing, as one of the big three, the team's highest paid player, Westbrook not only has high mistakes, the offensive efficiency is particularly low, his role is not even as good as Munch, who has been the savior at key moments many times this season, it is clear that after the end of the season, no matter how far the Lakers can go, Munch is likely to get a satisfactory salary, if the Lakers do not give, other teams will also give. Of course, the Lakers are not without players who are eye-catching.
At this point, apart from Munch, none other than Anthony. Before the start of the season, Anthony signed a one-year basic salary contract with the Lakers for 2.64 million, at that time, people generally did not expect Anthony to play an efficient level with the Lakers, but the 37-year-old Anthony had to use his performance to crush the doubts. So far this season, Anthony has averaged 13.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, shooting 44% from the field, and it is worth mentioning that after coming to the Lakers, Anthony's shooting rate has hit a new high in nearly 7 seasons, and the last time he shot more than 44% was in the New York Knicks.
Moreover, Anthony's 39.2% three-point shooting rate is also the second highest record in the past 8 seasons, and at the beginning of the season, Anthony even maintained a three-point shooting rate of more than 50%, which is quite amazing. Just when people thought that Anthony was coming to the Lakers to play soy sauce, he became the other thigh of the team, and it can be said that the Lakers signed a good price. Due to the impact of injuries, Anthony has missed 5 consecutive games, during which the Lakers have won 2-3, and as the playoffs approach, the Lakers are very eager for the veteran to return from the line of fire.
Currently, the Lakers are in ninth place in the West, the playoff situation is precarious, without Anthony, just like one less sharpshooter, James and Westbrook are more vulnerable to the bag when breaking through, and Anthony can attract defensive attention, and he can also be used as a defensive future, even if he is never known for defending. Anthony seems to have a second spring in the Lakers, but unfortunately, the team is still struggling, and no matter how sweet the melon is, it can't quench its thirst.