On December 22, Beijing time, James was suddenly absent due to injury before the game, and the Lakers suffered another heavy defeat against the Timberwolves.
The Lakers are back-to-back, but the opponent Timberwolves are actually back-to-back, both sides have games to play the day before, and the physical fitness is generally played to the last moment, in fact, even if the Lakers lose, it is just a failure, and there is no shame, and at the same time, you have a feeling after watching the Lakers' game, at the critical moment, if Zhan Huang is present, this game will definitely be won.
In fact, the Lakers have no backbone at all in the most important rounds. In this game, the Lakers have kept the point difference in single digits in the 4th quarter, and there has always been hope, when Russell hit the shot, the Lakers 95-100 were only 5 points away from 6 minutes left, which was their God-given opportunity, at the critical moment because James was not on the court, the Lakers could only use the twin towers, Hayes stood outside the three-point line, and Russell's pass was passed directly out of bounds...
Hayes didn't want to catch the ball at all, so why did this happen? Because this was originally James's position, Prince, Reaves, Russell, and thick eyebrows, and the remaining person around them should be James, but Zhan Huang couldn't play this game because of a serious injury, so he could only let Hayes stay on the court at a critical moment. Then this ball Hayes was not ready to catch the ball at all, so it was naturally a direct mistake, 6 minutes and 23 seconds This mistake is really outrageous, thick eyebrows spread his hands, and Russell directly covered his face.
But it can't be helped, Hayes thinks that I am a center standing outside the three-point line, you pass it to me, I can't shoot, he is not ready to take the ball, there is a major mistake at the critical moment. Later, Russell broke out, and the Lakers bit the score in a row, and at the critical moment, the Lakers could only rely on thick eyebrows, he could only rely on his own foul and unstable free throws to chase points, and after two free throws, Gobert dunked on the Timberwolves' side, and the difference came back to 9 points.
At the critical moment, Russell received the ball and passed to Prince again to shoot a three-point iron, and at this time, if James was on the court, James would definitely have a better choice, with Conley's follow-up three-point shot, plus Edwards' free throw, the Lakers fell behind by 13 points at 103-116 in two and a half minutes, if it weren't for Russell's three-point life, the game would have ended early.
At the critical moment, Prince shot a three-pointer, the thick eyebrows' strong attack and Hayes's mistakes, all of which can only be said that if Zhan Huang was on the court, there would never be these three rounds, including the last 76 seconds of the game, the Lakers fell behind by 7 points at 109:116, what are their tactics? Russell dribbled to the front court and directly pulled out a three-pointer, even if he had scored 13 points before the fourth quarter, this ball could not be played so simply. But there is no way, the Lakers have no one to attack at this time, there is no tactical coordination at all, and whoever takes the ball does it.
The next round was even more outrageous, and the Lakers' offense turned into Prince's dribble breakthrough and strong attack, and he was directly stealed by the Timberwolves. Without James, the Lakers' final five rounds were nothing short of messy. In the 4th quarter, we also saw the scene of Brother Thick Mei forcing a three-point shot, although he threw it, he did it helplessly, not a normal tactic, if the Lakers really had James, these tactics would not appear.
It can only be said that the performance of these teammates on the court at critical moments is too bad, and Zhan Huang will definitely win this time, after all, the difference is only 7 points. After the game, James did not greet the Timberwolves, but directly chose to leave the game early, and he may also be very depressed, after all, he witnessed another heavy defeat for the team.
It's a pity that the Lakers lost this time, and they persevered to the end, led by the thick eyebrows that cut off 31+8, Hachimura 18 points, Prince 14 points, Russell 17 points, Reaves 20 points, 5 people scored more than 14 points, if Zhan Huang can provide a stable output of 20 + 5 + 5, the Lakers will definitely win this game. It's a pity that James has no choice but to be absent due to a serious injury, and he really can't help.