On March 17, Beijing time, the Lakers lost 104-124 to the Timberwolves by 20 points, losing 3 consecutive games. After the All-Star Weekend, James scored less than 50 points and the Lakers' record was 0-9. Despite another fiasco, coach Vogel praised the Lakers for playing better than the first two games. In addition, For timberwolves players and fans to spew garbage, Wei Shao's response also caused controversy.
"I'm glad we did better tonight than the first two games." Vogel said so after the game. He pointed the finger at the referee. For James' moving cover and walking blow penalties, Vogel stressed that these penalties were terrible. According to Vogel, the referee's blowing penalty affected the game.
In this game, the Lakers once again made the mistake of collapsing in the first quarter. The Lakers used Howard as the starting center, but they didn't solve the problem. The Lakers were beaten 31-17 by the Timberwolves in the first quarter. It is worth mentioning that Vogel also specifically mentioned in an interview before the game that he and the players mentioned that they should invest at the beginning and not make the mistakes of the first two games.
But unfortunately, the Lakers repeated the same mistakes in this game, losing 14 points in the first quarter. The Lakers lost seven more points in the second quarter and trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half.
The Lakers counter-attacked in the third quarter, hitting 31-19. Maybe that's what Vogel is saying is better than the first two games. However, the Lakers collapsed again in the fourth quarter, losing 11 points 27-38 and the Lakers lost 20 points.
The Lakers suffered a 20-point fiasco, and Vogel was actually happy to perform better than the first two games, which was indeed embarrassing, and Vogel's approach was also controversial.
The Lakers have repeatedly lost battles and morale, and the Lakers coaching staff has lost its effect by constantly adjusting and changing the lineup. However, the Lakers management is not willing to change the manager at this time, and the management still believes that if the thick eyebrow brother returns, then coupled with Vogel's experience in coaching the playoffs, then the Lakers still have a chance to go far.
The current situation is that after the Lakers change coach, the team is difficult to achieve good results in the regular season, and the Lakers only have 13 games left, unable to rush to the top six in the West, and even the eighth is basically missing. The Lakers' biggest chance is to try to fall in the ninth or tenth place in the playoff zone.
Wei Shao's post-match speech also caused controversy, and for the poor start, Wei Shao said: "Keep shooting, it's as simple as that, we started the game with the right mentality, just lost the basket." ”
In this game, Timberwolves players and fans kept spewing trash at the Lakers, and Westbrook hit back in an interview: "They didn't talk to me. The people on their team didn't accomplish anything in the league. They won a game, congratulations to them, I will focus on the next one. ”
Although the Lakers have a number of big stars, the problem is that the Lakers were blown up by the Timberwolves in this game. Westbrook only had 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.