Lakers Lack Poise In the 3rd, Nick Young Dominates in the 4th
The Lakers played inspired basketball in Phoenix the first two quarters. Then, in their usual third quarter surrender, they did what comes naturally to them. They played zero defense. They missed shots. It was expected, it happens often enough.
But the rest of it? That was a new low. Dribbling the ball off their feet (Wesley Johnson) or screwing up fast breaks by throwing the ball at the ref (Jeremy Lin) or getting the ball swiped from them (Jordan Hill) or fumbling passes (the entire team) was embarrassing and looked less like a NBA team and more like a team that plays in the park once a week during the summer. It turned a tied score at halftime into a Phoenix lead of 10 as Phoenix scored 36 points in the third quarter.
In the off-season, the Lakers had an opportunity to sign Isaiah Thomas. They passed, signing Nick Young instead. Isaiah Thomas took it personally. He has destroyed the Lakers this year averaging 21 points, 65% shooting, 66% from three. Although Nick Young has struggled all year long, he’s been pretty good against Phoenix, 22 points, 51% shooting, 61% from three.
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The difference between the two teams is that Nick Young is out there all alone while Isaiah Thomas has Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic.
Collectively, Thomas, Bledsoe and Dragic scored 65 points, shot 65%, had 16 assists and 15 rebounds. The Lakers three guard combo of Jeremy Lin, Wayne Ellington and Jordan Clarkson had 25 points, shot 39%, had 11 assists (Jeremy Lin had 10 assists) and 8 rebounds. It was hardly a competition.
But in the 4th quarter, Nick Young was everywhere. Buoyed by a largely complimentary six page spread in Sports Illustrated, Young single handedly cut a 18 point deficit to 6 points. He scored 15 points in the quarter, 4 of which were three pointers. The Lakers went on a 14-1 run. The only problem was the Lakers went into Kobe mode and stood around watching Nick turn into Swaggy and consequently he had no other help as the Lakers just dumped the ball into him and expected him to be magical.
Nick is streaky but he can’t carry a team for an entire quarter by himself, regardless of how good he is shooting. The six point deficit went back up to 12 and the Lakers lost their 8th straight game to the Suns, their 30th loss of the year. It was the expected outcome considering the Suns shot 50%, 40% from three.