It's over!
On March 30, the Los Angeles Lakers lost 110-128 to the Dallas Mavericks. After this game, the Lakers suffered three consecutive losses, the record reached 31 wins and 44 losses, from the first week of the regular season to now the Lakers for the first time found themselves excluded from the playoffs.
Without LeBron James (left ankle sprain) and Anthony Davis (sprained right foot), the Lakers trailed the Mavericks by at most 37 points. Lone Ranger core Luka Doncic clocked in in the third quarter and finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
"They have no desire at all, the Lakers are finished." Lakers star Shaquille O'Neill angrily criticized the current performance of his old club on the live broadcast. Totally disappointed! If the season ends today, the Lakers are only 11th in the West and miss the playoffs. Is it possible to win 7 games left? The next opponents of the Lakers are: Jazz, Pelicans, Nuggets (play twice), Suns, Warriors, Thunder, can they win? Can't win, it's hard.
The last time the Lakers challenged the Lone Ranger on the road was in mid-December last year, when they killed the Lone Ranger in overtime with a three-pointer from rookie Austin Reeves.
"It was a highlight moment, that night and that shot." Lakers coach Frank Vogel said as he recalled the moment before the game.
If Reeves' smatch maverick was one of the Few Highlights Lakers' this season, the fiasco at the American Airlines Center that night was a disaster for them.
In the first quarter of the game, the Lone Ranger started with a wave of 8-0 to give the Lakers a "downhill power". Next, Doncic began a solo performance, three-pointers on the outside, breakthroughs on the inside, assists on teammates, and the young superstar played with ease under the defense of the Lakers. Doncic played the first quarter, shooting 7-of-11 and 3-of-5 from three-point range, scoring 17 points, 5 boards and 5 assists.
At the end of the first quarter, the Lone Rangers made it 43-25 to the Lakers, and the Lone Rangers shot a whopping 64 percent, giving them an understated 18-point lead. Witnessing this, don't the fans who bought tickets for this game want to shout a refund?
In the second quarter, the Lakers' offense improved slightly, but they couldn't stop their opponents on the defensive end. At the end of the first half, the Lakers trailed their opponents 56-82. Losing 82 points at halftime once again broke the Lakers' lower limit of the season, and their previous record of 79 points against the Suns in the first half was the highest. It's just as bad as the season they've been full of disappointments.
Since the halftime scoring statistics, the Lakers' all-time high first-half scoring record was 83 points against the Celtics on February 27, 1959, a record for the highest first-half loss in 63 years against the Lone Rangers.
"We didn't execute well enough, we didn't play with enough toughness, we didn't play smart, we lacked concentration and morale." Lakers head coach Frank Vogel was not at all satisfied with the Lakers' performance in the first half, he said, "So, this kind of performance is unacceptable, we are not performing well overall, players, coaches, everyone." ”
Vogel struggled to find a line-up and combination that would work, sending 12 players to the pitch in the first half alone. These include striker Trevo Ariza, who has not played for more than a month, and Kent Bazemore, who has not played in seven consecutive games. Just five minutes later, Vogel quickly brought starting center Dwight Howard back to the bench.
But no matter what Vogel tries, the Lakers haven't seen any major improvement. Every player in the first half ended with a negative plus-minus and watched the point difference widen. The talent gap between the two teams is too big. Doncic was too dominant. Under the Lakers' defense, he can kill all the way to the basket. When the Lakers double-pocketed him, he quickly shot the ball, either directly to find the empty three-point shooter, or handed the ball to a teammate and passed again to find another teammate in the empty position.
The Lone Ranger's offense is always two beats ahead of the Lakers' defense, properly held.
The Lakers are currently in 11th place in the West, the same record as the San Antonio Spurs. However, due to the Spurs' better record in the divisional games, the Spurs defeated the Lakers in the decider, which means that the Lakers must have a better record than the Spurs to finish the regular season before entering the playoffs.
After the game, Vogel revealed that James and Davis will be re-evaluated to determine if they can return in the next game against the Utah Jazz. According to ESPN, Davis, who has been out of injury since Feb. 17, plans to return in his home game against the Pelicans on April 2.
It's not easy for the Lakers to win both the Jazz and the Pelicans. Although the Jazz have suffered a recent losing streak, they are still in the top 6 in the West, and their strength is still far higher than that of the Lakers. The Pelicans are the Lakers' direct opponents for play-off spots, and are currently 1 game ahead of the Lakers, and the pelicans have achieved a 20-point reversal in the last encounter, and the two teams have once again met the Pelicans in a psychological absolute advantage. In contrast, the Spurs and Pelicans will also play twice in the future with teams like the Blazers that have completely embarked on a rotten road, and once they can face the Blazers to win consecutive wins, it means that the Lakers will have to win at least 3 games in the next 3 games to have a chance to squeeze into the top 10.
"Ranking is the result. We have to focus our attention on the process and the content of the work and the things that will lead to the next victory. That's the only thing we pay attention to. Asked if dropping out of the playoff would increase the Lakers' sense of urgency, Vogel said.
Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook had 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists in this game, and he had a cordial and friendly exchange of views with reporters at the post-game press conference.
When asked by reporters what changes the Lakers have dropped to 11th in the West and plan to make next, Wei Shao replied: "Nothing to change, brother, nothing." ”
The reporter then asked why there was no change, and Wei Shao stood up from his seat and asked, "What do you think should be changed?"
"To win, do the right thing."
Wei Shao continued to ask, "Well, there is no doubt about it. Do you have the answer to win? So how do you think we should change? The reporter continued: "I didn't play on the field again. You give me the answer. Subsequently, Wei Shao laughed, "That's not good." I don't have an answer either..."
The Lakers' record after the All-Star Game was 4 wins and 13 losses, which is already the second lowest win rate in Lakers history after the All-Star Game. Last summer, the Lakers formed the "Big Three" which caused shock to all parties, and now the Performance of the Lakers is really difficult to say.
How do I win? Do you have an answer? In fact, no one knows.