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Los Angeles Lakers: Three Lessons from a near collapse vs. Mavericks

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 31: JaVale McGee #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks the ball against the Dallas Mavericks on October 31, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 31: JaVale McGee #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks the ball against the Dallas Mavericks on October 31, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)

Here are three lessons we learned from a near collapse for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Dallas Mavericks.

Well, nobody can’t say that the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t interesting. They may not have the most exciting brand of basketball, but they sure are interesting. If the Dallas Mavericks game doesn’t convince you, nothing will.

The Lakers barely escaped out of the Staples Center with a win outlasting the Mavericks 114-113 Wednesday night in one of the more stranger choke jobs I’ve seen since the infamous J.R. Smith incident in the NBA Finals last year. Luka Doncic ties the game with seven seconds to go.

The Lakers give the ball to LeBron James to get the ball up the court quickly. Mavericks forward Wes Matthews for some reason fouls James with two seconds to go. (If ANYONE has a clue to what Matthews was thinking…PLEASE, put it in the comments section!)

LeBron James goes to the line and tries bump Matthews out of the choking section missing his first free throw before sealing the game with the second. A desperate last second shot by J.J. Barea fell short that sealed the win.

LeBron James seemed to be satisfied…

Should he be? Hardly, unless you believe in “a win is a win”. The Lakers blew a 18 point lead in a game that started with them up 8-0. I mean how may fans thought the game was over in the first quarter after seeing this…

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1057827207131713536

The Lakers came out strong doing something that they haven’t been doing a lot this season. Play defense. No…check that, JaVale McGee has been playing defense all season long (More on him later). If you have been wondering what in the world do fans want from the Lakers, here you go.

The Lakers are not good enough to turn it on anytime they feel like it and blow out most teams. All hands must be on deck to protect the paint. Which happened here. JaVale McGee blocks the shot gets the ball to James who flips the ball to Kuzma for the slam.

This is the blueprint of what the Lakers have to do. Period. For 48 minutes. If they don’t, they can potentially lose. Only one problem, the Lakers do not do this for 48 minutes. Then when the shots stop falling like in the last four minutes of this game, this team loses it’s rhythm and gets in real trouble. They slid by against Dallas but the rest of the NBA does not have Wes Matthews on their teams to bail the Lakers out.

Here are my three lessons!

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