In the NBA regular season that ended earlier, the Lakers defeated the Raptors 132-131.
First, being a brother and sister to a rebuilding team like the Raptors contrasts with the embarrassment that the two giant Lakers can only make minor repairs.
After narrowly beating the Clippers, the Lakers finally returned to the play-in zone again, and their opponent today is the Raptors who are stepping on the line of the Eastern Conference play-off area.
After sending Anunoby, the Raptors still haven't stopped peddling Siakam around, and compared to the Bulls' rebuilt shyness of holding the lute and half-covering their faces, the Raptors' rebuilding is resolute: except for Barnes, there are no non-sale.
From this, we can see the embarrassment of the Lakers.
First, James Mei is absolutely not for sale, and Rivers basically does not trade, and the Lakers' rebuild is destined to be a small repair.
Second, the Raptors dismantled the team because the ceiling of the existing roster has been set, and the Lakers' trade is to maximize James' commercial effect.
Third, from the tragedy of Wei Shao's Lakers, we know that the Lakers have a high difficulty in strengthening the outside line, can break through, have three points and can't grab the ball from James, and such players, the common symbol is not cheap, such as Siakam.
Second, the most pressing problem for the Lakers now is still the point guard.
Yesterday, the Pacers' Eastern Conference All-Star point guard Haliburton strained his hamstring, and the Pacers, who had just recovered from the fatigue of the midseason, suffered a blow to the head.
The young Pacers walked out of the midseason in six games, while the aging Lakers have paid 12 games that included two four-game losing streaks.
Since winning the mid-season tournament, the Lakers have used six different starting combinations, and the last Los Angeles derby, Russell's comeback, allowed the team to find a sense of the outside.
Today, the Lakers rarely extended their starting lineup, and it is clear that Ham believes that this lineup is the best solution for the Lakers right now.
In fact, the Raptors are similar to the Lakers, both are forwards, and the point guards of both teams have problems, but the existence of thick eyebrows makes the Lakers' interior advantage unshakable.
In the first quarter of the game, Bushy Eyebrow's 16 points gave the Lakers a four-point lead.
The Raptors' 2-point overtake in the half, on the one hand, was Zhan Mei's silence in the second quarter, and on the other hand, it was indeed his own forward line that hit the basket, allowing Zhan Mei to put more energy into defense.
The Lakers' disappointing half, especially Russell's low shooting percentage, shows that the first problem for this team to solve now is still the point guard.
Third, the reason why the Lakers won the game was thick eyebrows and three-point shots.
In the third quarter, the two sides picked up the tempo, which was actually a good thing for the Lakers, because they were a switching team.
Although the Raptors stopped the Lakers with back-to-back three-pointers, Reddish, Prince and Wood responded on the outside of the Lakers today.
The Lakers played a rare combination of inside and outside, leaving the Raptors' defense in a dilemma.
Coach Ham said in a pre-game interview today: In order to create more three-point shots, we need to break through more shots, and pitchers need to be ready to catch the ball and dare to shoot.
In the third quarter, the Lakers did play Ham's request, and from the Lakers' performance in this quarter, we know that the Lakers' problems have nothing to do with the coach at all, as long as James nods, Ham is in a worry-free position.
In the fourth quarter of the game, when he became a star, Barnes played aggressively on both offensive and defensive ends, but Zhan Mei's three-pointers and dunks to the basket made the Raptors tied and stopped at the same time.
The Raptors' interior line has indeed become their biggest shortcoming, which is why Rajakovic called a halt.
In the final 4th minute, Quickley elbowed Reddish on the head during a layup, which became the turning point of the game, Quickley was judged to be malicious, and the Lakers got two free throws and one throw.
Although the difference between the two teams has not been widened by this, the Raptors have lost momentum.
Then Zhan Mei connected the line to 2+1, which actually forced the Raptors to a dead end, because the Lakers used continuous rushing baskets to punish the Raptors' interior line, and the Raptors could only use fouls and Siakam to continue their lives.
When Bushy Eyebrows successfully blocked Barnes and caused a defensive foul and two free throws under the basket, the suspense of the game finally ended.
The reason for the Lakers' win was the dominance of the thick eyebrows under the basket and the team's 16 three-pointers.
James had 22 points and 12 assists, and the continuous moths to the basket let us see Lao Zhan's attitude.
Reddish had 13 points and was 4-of-6 from three-point range, and that's the Reddish the Lakers need.
Wood scored 14 points, 2-of-4 three-pointers, and with Wood's consecutive highlights, Hachimura's departure is entering the countdown, and the most important thing Wood needs to do is anger management, and his consecutive non-essential fouls today really interrupted the team's good momentum and dragged the team back.
Reaves scored 11 points, and he was in the right position to still be Russell's backup.
Thick eyebrows had 41 points and 11 rebounds, dominating the three-second zone on both ends.
With 26 points, Barnes deserved to be the backbone of the team.
Barrett had 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Siakam scored 22 points and left the Raptors for the countdown.
The win in this game makes it rare for the Lakers to win in a row, and the home game against the Suns will definitely become a mountain of kings for both sides.
It's just that the Tianwang Mountain on the lake day happened in the play-off area, and it was a painful realization for both sides.