Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Takeaways from loss to Trail Blazers

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their first game of the season to the Portland Trail Blazers, here are a few takeaways.

The first game of the LeBron James era has come and gone for the Los Angeles Lakers. The new chapter has started. Unfortunately, it finished the same way the Cleveland Cavaliers chapter ended…in a loss!

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Portland Trailblazers 128-119 for their 16th straight time. The win is also Portland’s 18th straight opening night win which is a NBA record. LeBron James played a typical LeBron James game (more on that later) scoring 26 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out six assists. Josh Hart was impressive scoring 20 points off the bench.

With this loss LeBron James has now gone 0-4 playing the first game for his new teams…but in the NBA this will not be an easy hill to climb according to LeBron via ESPN.com.

"“Every step along the path is always different and challenging in its own right,” James said of starting a new season with a new franchise. “So no matter how comfortable you are, they all have their own feeling and you have to get better with it every single day, so I’m looking forward to this challenge.”"

If you are a Los Angeles Lakers fan do not panic. Throughout James’ career when he took his talents to another franchise it takes time for things to work itself out…

In Miami, the Heat were 9-8 with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh before things worked itself out to the point the Heat made the Finals. Back in Cleveland, the team went 19-20 when he played with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Then the winning streaks came and they went on to the Finals as well.

I can’t lie…I tend to love LeBron James’ quotes sometimes…How about that team chemistry?

"“Um, not as fast as you guys think it’s going to happen,” James said when asked how long it will take for the Lakers’ chemistry to develop. “I always kind of compare it to like instant oatmeal. It is not that fast. It takes a while to get to where you can close your eyes and know exactly where your guys are.”"

Okay Lakers fans, let’s remember these words because yes it will be a challenge and chemistry tends to take time. However, there are definitely things that have to get better. Here are a few takeaways from the loss to the Trail Blazers.

LeBron does well

Well it depends on what you wanted out of LeBron James because he was all over the spectrum in the game. If you want excitement? We have it all for you…

https://twitter.com/Dom_2k/status/1053150173449334784

I’ve had courtside seats to watch the Lakers play. The caption is on point for anyone who has not been to a game in those seats. Heaven folks heaven…oh wait a minute let me do my job…

These were back to back dunks. The Lakers were eventually up ten and it really looked like…

A) The Lakers were going to run the Blazers out of the gym and…

B) LeBron James was on his way to EASILY scoring 40 points! Twitter blew up with all of this playoff talk! I can’t even lie, even I got excited on jumped online with a deadline to meet.

Only one problem…this all happened in the first quarter. By the end of the first stanza, the Lakers were behind.

Oh make that two…can we get some of this in crunch time?

This is what I mean…

While LeBron was flying through the air dunking the ball in the first quarter sending the NBA world in a frenzy, the stars for Portland, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum were struggling. Overall Damian Lillard played a terrible floor game while Brandon Ingram had McCollum locked up with his length.

That is until the last eight minutes of the game.

Lonzo Ball dropped a three to cut the Blazers lead to 101-100. This is what Magic Johnson called winning time.

Only McCollum and Lillard had their Rolex’s on. They both combined to set off a 18-6 Portland run to put the game out of reach. They both combined to score 20 points in the 4th to lead the Blazers to victory. Anybody remember anything of note from James at this time? That’s the issue here.

This is what the Lakers need from James. If he is the best player on the court, the last eight minutes is when he has to impose his will and lead his team to victory. He has to be as dominant or more so at THIS time in the game. This game was winnable but a scenario that Lakers fans need to watch throughout the season occurred. LeBron James played well enough to fill stat sheets, but not well enough to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to victory.

Josh Hart shines   

Let’s give a shout out to Josh Hart. Lakers fans, this dude will compete for you. I have no idea why this guy does not start. He plays defense…

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1053140525614751744

Runs the floor hard…

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1053162802821574657

…and seems to be the only one last night that could knock down a three point shot…

Looking at these highlights, Hart and Brandon Ingram teamed up to get the Lakers back into the game. With that being said, why is he behind Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the depth chart? This is getting ridiculous! I see that Hart will be good off the bench as a spark plug but if that is the case, Kyle Kuzma needs to start. KCP, based on the preseason and what happened against the Blazers should lose his starting spot.

Caldwell-Pope scored five points in 27 minutes. This is your starting shooting guard Lakers fans. He is not the future, Walton needs to put somebody on the floor that can score in the backcourt…why?

Because the Portland guards combined to score…wait for it…91 points! They outscored the Lakers guards 91-42. Rajon Rondo was effective in this game scoring 13 points and dishing out 11 assists. Ten of those points were in the first half.

There are players that get totally bamboozled when they play a certain somebody. For Damian Lillard, it is Rajon Rondo. Rondo continued his dominance from last year over Lillard until foul trouble slowed Rondo. After Rondo fouled out , Lillard took over the game. Coincidence? Not likely.

Defense struggles  

I love me some JaVale McGee! Lakers fans should too. This guy plays so hard, the Lakers should sign him to an extension now! Just look at what he does…

He will dunk on you…HARD!

https://twitter.com/BR_NBA/status/1053149126655860737

Play strong defense…run the floor and dunk on you again!

https://twitter.com/BR_NBA/status/1053130231853142016

But this man has NO HELP! NONE! We’ve already talked about how the Blazers guards went off, but when he sits down, the defense collapses.

How bad is the defense? Well…

Damian Lillard gets little resistance from Rajon Rondo who goes by him. LeBron James misses the rotation and Lillard gets the easy dunk…press play!

How many people even knew Nik Stauskas was still in the NBA? If so how many people remember him playing a game like last night? That’s my point.

Damian Lillard looked like he could care less for about three quarters and McCollum did not shoot very well. That’s fine. Great, but you can’t let Nik Stauskas shoot himself in to a NICKNAME!

Sauce Castillo?

I mean MY GOD! Where’s the defensive pride here?

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1053153081473490944

Take a look at these highlights and you see a common theme…Lance Stephenson. Stephenson has been atrocious on defense all preseason and in this game. It seems Lance is all about this..

…and not stopping Nik Stauskas from smoking him like a pack of Kools on the other end. This is one of the major reasons why Lance only saw the court for 16 minutes! Lakers fans, this team can give you all the highlights you want because right now if you have paid attention, a lot of flash, not enough substance.

Finally this three point situation… 

The Lakers shot poorly to say the least going an anemic 7-30 from the land of plenty which included missing the first 15 shots. LeBron James, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball combined to shoot 2-19 collectively for the game. I realize that the NBA requires three-point shooting, but you have to know when it is not your night. Josh Hart did not have these problems…

Josh Hart shot 3-5 from the land of plenty. He had it going and he looked confident in his stroke. A lot of so called media experts are going to blame the loss on the Lakers not having enough shooters. The Lakers front office and I don’t see that as the case. Hart has showed that he has been capable basically since the summer leagues. It’s on Luke Walton to see this and give him more floor time. I see Lance Stephenson’s and KCP’s minutes is a wonderful place to start.

The Los Angeles Lakers have started their long journey through the NBA season. Lake Show Life will be there every step of the way. Continue to check in for Lakers news, previews and reviews.