LeBron James passed Kobe Bryant for 3rd place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. That’s about the only good thing that happened as the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night. Lake Show Life breaks it down in Lake Show Life Lessons!
Well, it wasn’t as fun as last week for the Los Angeles Lakers, to say the least. It shows how quickly things can change in the wonderful world of the NBA.
The Lakers opened the weekly Saturday ABC primetime schedule taking James Harden‘s lunch money in a beatdown of the Houston Rockets. It was considered easily the best team win of the season.
Frank Vogel found some diamonds in the rough from the bench in Quinn Cook and Troy Daniels, the defense was strong as Fort Knox and Kyle Kuzma played his best floor game of the season.
That was on January 18th, 2020. Unfortunately the Lakers played the Philadelphia 76ers on January 25, 2020 with a team that believes defense is a priority instead of occasional clips to put on Twitter or Instagram.
The 76ers gave the Los Angeles Lakers some of their own defensive medicine holding their high-powered offense to 91 points. Before Lake Show Life breaks down the game, unless you have been living under a rock, LeBron James came into the game needing 18 points to pass Kobe Bryant for 3rd all-time on the NBA’s scoring list.
It took a minute, like about halfway into the 3rd quarter, but history was made.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1221275245216182272
One quick slash through Ben Simmons, Al Horford and Shake Milton (Folks that is not a typo. That is how his name is spelled!) for a layup and there you have it. NBA history. Congratulations to the “King” LeBron James. It doesn’t mean his analysis of the game will be good, but greatness over his career will and should be recognized.
This is a game where the supporting players left LeBron James and Anthony Davis out in the ocean with no boat, losing 108-91. The game was never really in doubt even when the Lakers made a run in the second half.
The team was a step behind the Sixers the whole night (Especially on defense!) and allowed Ben Simmons to do anything he wanted. In 41 minutes, Simmons basically destroyed the Lakers shooting 12-of-15 from the field for 28 points while collecting 10 rebounds (three offensive!) and dishing out eight assists. What damage he didn’t do, Tobias Harris took care of. Harris had 29 points and 8 rebounds.
It has been documented that the front office has been looking to make moves to improve the roster. A playmaker is definitely at the top of the list (Did anyone see Rajon Rondo play in this game?), but having a wing defender that can stop big athletic forwards like Harris and Simmons should be next on the list.
Sorry to expose the weaknesses of the Los Angeles Lakers, but here they are.
- Any team with a stretch-5 gives the Lakers fits. Al Horford kept bringing Howard out of the lane and Anthony Davis was forced to play the 5 spot. He ended up closing the Lakers out late in the 4th quarter.
- Watching any playmaker besides the guy in the 23 jersey balance scoring with setting up other players at the same time will make you promise to bury the hatchet with your worst enemy even though you don’t mean it. If the Lakers don’t get Darren Collison or some other player, you may follow through with the promise.
- The Lakers can’t stop big, athletic wing players. They can’t. Toronto, Philly, Boston, the Clippers, the Bucks all have wings that carve the Lakers up. Remember what Aaron Gordon did to them?
After allowing a 17-4 run over the course of parts of the second quarter into the third, the Lake Show’s goose was cooked. For the first half of the third period, the Lakers scored two points. Even when James passed Kobe Bryant, the Lakers were down around 20 points at the time.
While Lake Show Life rolls our collective eyes at the wave of trade requests in the comment section over the next few days, the loss drops the Lakers to 36-10 on the season. Despite the setback, the Lakers went 3-2 over their annual Grammy road trip.
Considering they played five games in about eight days, this was a successful trip. But boy they have an event on Tuesday that will rival the Grammy Awards on Sunday.
They host their Staples Center co-tenants, the LA Clippers. If the Lakers win on Tuesday (A must win by the way!), this will ease the tensions of this loss. If the game resembles this one or the first two meetings on opening night and Christmas, rumor articles will definitely pick up.
Usually, Lake Show Life Lessons start with the stars. This one will be different.