Lakers Start Road Trip on Wrong Foot
Look, there is no shame in losing to the Bulls. For the record, I still contend that the best win the Lakers have had this season was the W over Chicago in Staples. The Bulls are nice and the squad is for real. However, there is much shame for the Lake Show as yet another lazy effort has resulted in a loss.
Phil Jackson you do have a problem. Your team isn’t focused on anything except clocking out and going home. These Lakers are punching the clock without doing any work until the last 5 minutes on the job. They left another one late and lost 88-84 to the Bulls. By the way, that’s the first time in 8 tries Chi Town has enjoyed a win over the Lake Show going all the way back to 2006.
Things started off well enough for L.A. as Chicago came out flat. Kobe took a back seat happy to let his teammates get it going as the offense was clicking. Then the second quarter came and the wheels fell off. After the first 12 it was all downhill including an inexplicable 10-point second frame.
Once an unstoppable offense the Lakers are just down right offensive now. Yeah, I know Tom Thibodeau is a defensive genius. He gets credit but the Lakers constantly settling for jumpers and watching Kobe doesn’t help matters. All that and certified Laker Killer Derrick Rose had another monster night with 29 and 9.
Oh…yeah…KB24 passed John Havlicek to move into 11th all-time in scoring. Another milestone in a loss…an odd pattern is developing here…
Pau Gasol played better than recently but he’s still well below the expected standard. Joakim Noah makes the Spaniard work and to be honest the Bulls matchup well against the Lakers. This is one team I’m glad we won’t have to see again.
Suddenly the Lakers can’t score and are conceding uncontested shots often. Again, Chicago played a good game. Still, the Lakers aren’t up for the task…again. PJ, you’ve got some serious explaining to do. If this was ‘definitely’ your final coaching effort in The United Center then your last Chicago chapter has ended on a bad note. The book still hasn’t been written on this season but there is reason to think it won’t end well if things keep up the way they have been.