"This is the lakers' hardest three last three games, but the Lakers will still lose double digits."
The Lakers' away challenge to the Jazz is not over, and the Lakers' local media "Lakers Country" has sent such a tweet full of helpless emotions. As predicted by the media, the Lakers eventually lost 13 points 109-122.
In the absence of the Zhan Mei combination, the Lakers are really hard enough to face the Jazz who are already stronger than themselves, and they have played a lot of bright spots, but what makes the Lakers feel sad is that such a performance is not enough for them to win. The Lakers seem to have retained the hope of reversal, but in fact, the Jazz have always controlled the rhythm. After losing this game, the Lakers once again fell out of the play-off zone to 11th place, and the ranking was surpassed by the Spurs.
For the current Lakers, it doesn't make much sense to discuss things at the tactical level. At this point, some problems are already deeply rooted, and the problems that have not been solved in the previous 70 games are even more impossible to solve at this point. The reality that the Lakers face is that whether James is in or out, they can only play the league's bottom defense, after losing the basic set of defense, they can only rely on the hot offensive feel to maintain a whole game, and once the feel falls back, they will immediately fall behind, be thrown away, and lose.
The only difference with the Lakers in a game with the Jazz is that Frank Vogel reused Dwight Howard, adjusted the tactical focus, and directed more fire into the box.
The Lakers' performance in attacking the inside line is indeed worthy of recognition, facing the three-time Defensive Player of the Year Award winner Rudy Gobert, the Lakers played a lot of breakthroughs, breakthroughs to attract the defense after the split-point tactics. Russell Westbrook and Malik Munch fed Howard a lot of good balls, and they did a good job of bombing the basket. Throughout the game, Westbrook scored 24 points on 50 percent shooting and won 10 free throws. Munch scored 14 points and made several layups against people. The two men combined 11 assists, and Howard scored 21 points and 12 rebounds to return to the top, his first 20+10 statistic since Jan. 14, 2020.
The Lakers scored 54 points in the penalty area and scored a total of 28 free throws. The Lakers did not make too many mistakes today, the whole team only had 11 mistakes, and Wei Shao only had 3. It's just a pity that with the exception of Augustine, Tarren Horton Tucker and Munch, the other Lakers players didn't come to Utah with a scope today. Even Howard hit three-pointers, but Cameron Anthony made 0-of-3 three-pointers, Ariza made 0-of-4 three-pointers and Westbrook made 0-of-2 shots. The Lakers made just 25 three-pointers and scored seven, shooting just 28 percent from three-point range. On the three-pointer, the Lakers lost 24 points.
Attacking the inside line and control errors are the only two bright spots for the Lakers today, but in addition to these two bright spots, you will find that the problems inherent in the Lakers are still there. After losing the basic defensive set, the Lakers' jazz defended the magic ball and could neither cover the three-point line nor the basket. Although Gobert did not play the advantage of guarding the basket, he scored 25 points and 17 rebounds to make up for it on the offensive end. Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley combined for 8-of-16 three-point shooting, with Jordan Clarkson constantly using his size advantage to bully Reeves, unable to play behind Reeves.
Objectively speaking, the Lakers' loss of this game would have been expected. Before the Lakers won the Jazz, it was thanks to James's excellent performance plus Stanley Johnson's unlimited targeting of Gobert in the small-ball lineup. But today, without James, Johnson's offense didn't feel good, Gabriel was in foul trouble after only 11 minutes to get 5 fouls, and the Lakers didn't have the capital to play five small. In the fourth quarter, Vogel could only send munch, Tucker Jr., Westbrook, and Augustine to the fourth position suicide lineup. Vogel's lineup configuration has been scolded countless times, but think about it, zhan mei combination can not play, two blue-collar forwards can not be used, Vogel does not use the four-guard tactic, what tactics can be used?
Tomorrow the Lakers will return home to face the Pelicans back-to-back, which will be their life-and-death battle. At present, the Lakers have reached 2 wins behind the Pelicans, and in the last 6 games, it is very difficult for the Lakers to surpass the Pelicans. Now the Lakers should think about how to win as many balls as possible to overwhelm the Spurs and finally enter the playoffs as the 10th in the West. In the last 6 games, the Lakers have to play the Pelicans, Nuggets, Suns, Warriors, Thunder and Nuggets, except for the Thunder, none of the other 5 games are easy to play.
The only good news for the Lakers is that James and Davis are expected to make a comeback tomorrow. The problem is that, according to Vogel, James and Davis, although recovering well, are not at 100% physical and competitive, and even if they come back, the two may encounter a time limit. Not in the best form of the James' eyebrow combination, can they beat the momentum Pelicans? No one can say for sure.
Recently, american celebrities have been satirizing James's "brush scoring king", from the previous games, the Lakers won 4 games in March, of which James scored 50+ high scores in 2 games, and the other 2 games scored more than 35 points. The reality is like this, James gets a high score, and the Lakers may not be able to win. But James doesn't get a high score, and the Lakers certainly can't win the ball. It's not that James wants to brush up on the scoring king, but reality forcing James to score more.
After today's game, James is still narrowly at the top of the scoring table, with Antetokounmpo in 2nd place and Joel Embiid in 3rd place. According to the rules, James will have to play three more games to qualify for the scoring champion. For James, competing for a scoring champion is no longer his priority, especially now that he has an ankle injury. However, the Lakers' dismal status quo may force James to score more points, especially before Davis returns to normal playing time.
In the last 6 games, Davis's play will be crucial. Relative to the offense, his role on the defensive end is what the Lakers need most. Throughout March, the Lakers conceded more than 130 points in three games and more than 110 points in 14 games. The Lakers' offensive performance in March was actually good, at least the offensive efficiency was better than in the previous months, but their defense was too poor and everyone was blown up.
If Davis can come back with a knee injury after his comeback performance, provide more help to the Lakers on the offensive end, and help the Lakers improve their defensive efficiency on the defensive end, James's score may decline to give up the top position of the scoring king, but the Lakers' hope of winning more games and entering the playoffs will be greatly increased.