Los Angeles Lakers: 3 takeaways from loss against the Detroit Pistons
By Zain Danani
The Los Angeles Lakers have lost four of their last five games as they came up short against the Detroit Pistons, 106-112.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons headed into their matchup with comparable expectations. Both teams were still mathmatically in the playoff hunt, but their chances of making it were slim.
L.A. sat at the 11th seed in the West and still nine games behind of the eighth-seed Utah Jazz. Moreover, the Lakers would have to win every game, which was highly unlikely
Similarly, Detroit found themselves at the ninth seed in the Eastern and 5.5 games behind of the eighth-seed Miami Heat. The Pistons, however, had been fairly inconsistent since the All-Star break – posting a 5-11 record. Furthermore, they only hold a half-game lead over the Charlotte Hornets.
Aside from their playoff expectations for this season, the teams also found themselves in similar roster situations.
The Lakers had made it clear that Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma are the core pieces of their team. Now, however, the team is contemplating about the other players – mainly Julius Randle and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – to keep and how to go about the 2018 NBA free agency.
Similar to L.A., the Pistons had made it clear which players are the primary focus of the team – Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin. Additionally, they are also contemplating who to keep on the roster – mainly Reggie Jackson.
In their matchup last night, the Lakers lost to the Pistons 112-106. The game was close nearly all game, but Detroit ran away with their lead in the final minutes.
The Lakers’ next game will be on Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks at STAPLES Center. Before we get to that game, however, let’s look at a few takeaways from last night’s game.