Lakers Highlights: James scored 19 points and 15 points melon and 16 points were killed by the Timberwolves
Unsurprisingly, and reasonably, the Lakers are another loss, losing 104-124 to the Timberwolves on the road, losing in a three-game game. The Lakers have lost not simply, they have lost a total of 60 points in this wave of three consecutive losses, and have output a wonderful sense of copy-paste, worthy of the Hollywood team.
As Yowan Buha, the reporter TheAthletic responsible for tracking the Lakers at the end of the first quarter of the Lakers' game against the Timberwolves, tweeted: "It's a familiar feeling again. ”
17-31, the Lakers fell behind by 14 points in the first quarter, from the gap point of view, slightly more moderate than the previous two games, the Lakers lost 26 points against the Suns in the first quarter on March 14, and lost 21 points against the Raptors in the first quarter on March 15. This time "only" 14 points, the Lakers played "good".
Although the gap of 14 points will not be directly defeated in the first quarter like the previous two games, the pit of collapse has been dug, that is, the first quarter is "buried", or the second quarter is "buried". No, the Lakers were pulled apart by the Timberwolves by 20+ points in the second quarter, and then symbolically chased in the second half, and finally laughed at a defeat.
The Lakers lost a total of 61 points in the first quarter of the past three games, the average is 20.3 points, the Lakers' offensive and defensive strength this season, the downwind ball is still easy to overturn the boat, playing the headwind ball is even less dramatic, this situation the media and fans can see clearly, the Lakers can not not know, but why are they repeatedly beaten by the opponent in the first quarter?
Considering the scope of the entire season, the Lakers are not very good at playing the first quarter, their average score in the first quarter of this season is 26.9, ranking 21st in the league, this problem has been more dazzling in the last 3 games, their average score in the first quarter plummeted to 17 points, which was bad before, and now it is a bit ugly.
Against the Suns, the Lakers scored 22 points in the first quarter, shooting 34.8 percent from the field in the first quarter, 1-of-10 from three-point range, and 7 assists on two assists.
Against the Raptors, the Lakers scored 12 points in the first quarter, shooting 12 percent from the field in the first quarter, 0-of-13 from three-point range, and 1 assist with 2 turnovers.
Against the Timberwolves, the Lakers scored 17 points in the first quarter, shooting 28.6 percent from the field in the first quarter, 0-of-10 from three-point range, and 4 assists and 6 turnovers.
The crux of the matter is obvious, the Lakers can not shoot in the first quarter, especially the three-point shot, 33 shots in the first quarter of 3 games, which is a very abnormal projection performance. The Lakers' recent 3 games were completed in 4 days, first Phoenix and Los Angeles back-to-back, and then non-stop to Minneapolis, as a veteran team, the Lakers' physical fitness can not bear such a consumption, specific to the game is slow heat.
The so-called roof leak is in the overnight rain, the Lakers have encountered a team with excellent defensive ability, the Suns are the best team in the league to limit three-point shooting, the Raptors' forward pressure is among the best in 30 teams, the Timberwolves' defensive aggression is also quite online, and it is difficult for the tired Lakers to get a shooting opportunity.
Fatigue is fair, every team will encounter it, not just for the Lakers. When the player has a sense of tiredness, it is necessary to give tactical support, but this is the defect of the Lakers, in the stage of thick eyebrow injury, the Lakers' offense in the cooperation with this level, basically three routines, James back singles to attract the defense to transfer the ball, James breakthrough to attract the defense to transfer the ball, Wei Shao control the ball James air cut transfer ball, these three routines have a premise, that is, the outside line provides space, and the Lakers can not shoot, the opponent will shrink the defense, the Lakers' cooperation is also blocked, leaving only some piecemeal play that has nothing to do with the overall situation.
The Lakers' lineup originally had hard injuries, they played the Suns and Raptors to start with James, Munch, Stanley Johnson, Reeves and Westbrook, the starting five Tigers have three three-point ability is mediocre, Reeves has some highlight moments this season, but he is not a stable shooter, against the Suns and Raptors combined 6-of-6 three-pointers, Johnson is 2 of 0, Westbrook 3 of 0. Encountering the Timberwolves, the Lakers were jealous of Downs' lethality and started with Howard, making the projection worse.
The Lakers sacrificed a lot of defensive resources in the offseason in exchange for an increase in offensive level, and as a result, the most reliable pitchers around James are Munch and Anthony signed with a base salary, and even Munch and Melon, 3 of 16 three-pointers against the Timberwolves, is also a crisp hit, coupled with the three-point performance of 1 of 8, the Lakers' offense is fragmented.
Looking back at the Lakers' 2020 championship season, they have a game "nuclear weapon", that is, defensive counterattack, mercury is indestructible, and now the Lakers have been unable to play that style, their defensive resources have been seriously consumed after a series of management operations, the internal line is slow (thick eyebrow injuries are not counted), the front line is old, the backcourt is short, even if Vogel is a defensive coach, it is also difficult for a smart woman to cook without rice.
The Lakers were beaten in the first quarter in a row, closely related to their defense, losing 48 points in the first quarter of the Suns, shooting 61% in the first quarter of the Suns, 33 points in the first quarter against the Raptors, and 59% of the Raptors shooting in the first quarter. Timberwolves this is still to the Lakers "face", the first quarter of 31 points, shooting 45.8% is not devastating, how the Lakers tear-jerking attack can not catch this "face".
Give you a chance, you don't use it, then it's really no longer rudderless.
After All-Star Weekend, the Lakers lost nine of their 11 games, scoring 56 and 50 points, respectively, in the two games they won. The Lakers have reached the point where Old Zhan can't win without taking 50+, and Old Zhan's physical fitness and health (knee injury) are not enough to support him to score high scores continuously, Kobe Bryant can use 4 consecutive games 50+ to fight for the Lakers' playoff spot, but at that time Kobe Bryant was 28 years old, and Old Zhan is now almost 38.
After scoring 50 points against the Wizards, James also collapsed in the first quarter of the Lakers, and in the three first quarters of the Suns, Raptors and Timberwolves, Old Zhan scored a total of 14 points, shooting 35% from the field, 1 of 7 three-pointers, and the three first quarters added up to -55. Against the Timberwolves, James scored only 19 points on 8-of-21 shooting in the first quarter, scoring 20+ points in 32 consecutive games, and the old Zhan defended quite aggressively, but his physical strength could not support both ends of the attack.
After losing to the Timberwolves, the Lakers' record slipped to 29-40, the first time James played for a team since his rookie season that he was 11 games away from a 50 percent win rate. The Lakers are 12.5 wins behind the Sixth Nuggets in the West, with little chance of catching up with 13 games left in the regular season. The probability of directly entering the playoffs for the Lakers is basically zero, and the probability of entering the first half of the playoffs (seventh and eighth) is also very low, and they have fallen behind the eighth Clippers in the West by six wins after this wave of three consecutive losses. The Lakers now need to worry about whether they can hold the playoff spot, although they are still 2.5 wins ahead of the 11th Blazers, but the pressure on the schedule is very high.
The Lakers played nine away games in their last 13 regular season games, and their away record this season is 9-23. The Lakers have nine of their 13 regular season games against opponents with a winning percentage of more than 50 percent, and teams with a winning percentage of 50 percent or more this season have a 29 percent win rate. With the Lakers' current physical condition, morale level, and competitive strength, how many of their last 13 games can they win?
Now watching the Lakers' game, it is normal to have a normal heart to lose one game and win a game to earn one, but you must not look at it, because there is James, and there may be surprises.
You see, now the old Zhan is 56 points away from surpassing Carl Malone.