Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Lessons from the win over the Philadelphia 76ers

The Los Angeles Lakers did little to silence the critics about the issues of the supporting cast.

Alex Caruso missed his second straight game with a sore right hamstring. The injury isn’t thought to be serious, but his intangibles are missed. The bench was very uneven as Markieff Morris scored only two points while Kyle Kuzma finished with only 7 points on 3-10 shooting. The debates and arguments about Kuz possibly being the 3rd scorer on this team will continue for the next 22 games. He’s so wildly inconsistent, everybody invested in this team is frustrated. But at least he stopped using that Dennis Rodman start-up kit and got rid of that blond dye in his head.

Dwight Howard scored 11 points, but didn’t miss a shot from the field (4-4) or the free throw line (3-3). He credits his improved free throw shooting to former Lakers point guard, Nick Van Exel, who shot his free throws from the spot Dwight is now. Keep it going Dwight.

Kentavious Caldwell Pope is continuing his play as the glue guy for the bench. Right now, he has to be considered the most consistent bench player the Lakers have. This is a remarkable statement considering he couldn’t accomplish anything for the first two games of the season. When he is on the floor, notice the Lakers always ratchet up their defensive intensity and go on major runs.

Whether the Los Angeles Lakers bring in Dion Waiters or J.R. Smith, one thing should be clear to the coaching staff. KCP’s minutes should not be messed with.

The Lakers have 22 games left in the season and eventually they will have to learn the concept that the Milwaukee Bucks figured out. Get your stars rest by blowing out teams when you have the opportunity.

This play is exciting. The crowd went nuts and it looks good on the highlight reels. There’s only one problem.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1235073623527845888

It should have never happened. Like many other times this season, the team would allow their opponent to stay close and LeBron has to come off the bench to put the game away. Giannis Antetokounmpo has huge numbers for the Bucks. But he collects his stats in about 31 minutes of work. No other Bucks player averages over 30 minutes a game. Why?

Because they blow everyone out. The Bucks own the league’s highest scoring margin at about 12 points a game.

The Lakers and Sixers ended up splitting the season series. The 76ers beat the Lakers 108-91 back on Jan. 25 while James passed Kobe Bryant for third place on the NBA’s career scoring list. Milwaukee is next on Friday.

Then, on Sunday, the Lakers will play the Clippers for the third time this season, looking for their first win of the year against their rivals. This is a must win for the Lakers.

Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and the Clips have accounted for almost 1/3 of the Lakers’ combined losses this year, contributing four of the 13 defeats. It’s time for the Los Angeles Lakers to send a message that they can compete with these teams,

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