Who would have thought that after the Lakers' big three led by James announced a truce, the Lakers farcically won two consecutive victories. This is the first time the Lakers have won two consecutive victories since January 8, and these two victories have not brought the Lakers back to life, but have left the Lakers with one more laughing stock. Today, the Lakers beat the Nuggets 146-141 in overtime, ending the season with a win. There is no doubt that the First Contributor to the Lakers' win was Austin Reeves, a youngster who cut 31 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.
Reeves thus became the first player since Jerry West to score 30 points and triple-doubles in a single game. Jerry West is to the Lakers, the equivalent of Cousy to the Celtics, is the most meritorious figure in the history of the Lakers, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the godfather of the Lakers. The Lakers are the first giants in the league, and the gold content of this honor is self-evident, and Reeves is on a par with West as a lost draft, which is also a supreme honor. Even magic johnson and Kobe Bryant did not get this honor, and Reeves officially made a name for himself through this battle. In this season of bad luck, successfully signing Reeves is the only consolation for the Lakers.
Last summer, the Lakers signed this obscure draft with a cheap contract of 2 years and 2.49 million US dollars, when people generally believed that he was a passer-by in the Lakers' crazy season, but he did not expect that he would step by step, from a water dispenser player, gradually growing into a main rotation player, to now being able to cut 30 points + triple-doubles in a single game. The Lakers still hold a year of bonus time, which also makes up for the lack of choosing Tucker and abandoning Caruso.
Not just Reeves, but the other Lakers players have all played impressive performances after the Big Three's collective truce. In the Game against the Warriors on April 8, Horton Tucker, who was blamed by fans for a season, performed 40 points in a single game, becoming the Lakers' strongest ball-holding attacker on the court. In addition, Malik Munch also repaid head coach Vogel with performance after getting enough playing time. In his last three games, Munch averaged 25.6 points, five rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, shooting 49 percent from the field and scoring 41 points in today's game. These three players have become the Lakers' most reliable scoring points, you know, Westbrook's season high score is only 35 points, and Davis is also 35 points. Such a performance makes the "Lakers' role players poor quality" remarks self-defeating.
The Lakers don't lack scorers. Even if the Big Three occupy 90% of the Lakers' salary space, the offensive firepower of lakers role players is still the first echelon of the league. Looking back at the offseason, the Lakers' feat of signing 8 base-paid players overnight is still vivid, including many outside shooters such as Anthony, Ellington and Bradley, Munch and Reeves also gradually got a stable playing time in the middle of the season, and the Lakers' role player lineup is actually the best in the league. However, they did not play to the standards they should be around James and Westbrook, and it was not until the closing stages of the season that these two innocuous games made them really shine. The reason is that James took away most of the Lakers' offensive ball, which not only sealed Westbrook's ability, but also Munch and Reeves.
While Munch, Anthony and Reeves all have decent outside shooting ability, it's not the most comfortable offensive rhythm for them. James' system requires them to be able to shoot the ball to the extreme, but their talent is more about carrying the ball. As James gets older, his threat to break through has dropped dramatically, and his ability to attract defense has also declined, so the quality of the pass has been greatly affected, and perhaps this is no longer the most suitable offensive system for the Lakers. This season we've seen James end the offense more with shots than directly at the basket. At the same time, James has most of the ball for the Lakers, so we can see that James can score 30 points every night, but the Lakers still can't win.
For the Lakers, the saddest part is that even if James's offensive system does not work, they can only play hard. Unless James can voluntarily release the ball, that's where James needs to change. If Westbrook leaves the Lakers in the offseason for another team that suits him, he will prove that he still has oil in his tank. After taking back the ball that belonged to him, the triple-double will prove himself again.