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Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron and AD shine in loss to Mavs — 5 lessons!

By Ronald Agers

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 01: LeBron James #23 and Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers while playing the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center on January 1, 2020 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. Lakers won 117 to 107. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 01: LeBron James #23 and Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers while playing the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center on January 1, 2020 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. Lakers won 117 to 107. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

The Los Angeles Lakers were back in action for the first time in four months on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Lakers are back! That should be enough, but LeBron James and Anthony Davis both looked great in the Lakers’ first scrimmage against the Dallas Mavericks. It might be only a scrimmage, but to the delight of many Los Angeles Lakers fans, Lake Show Life Lessons is back for the first time in four months!

The Los Angeles Lakers played an NBA game in front of its fans. Lake Show Life gets to do a Lake Show Life Lessons post-game report. There will be debates about who needs more minutes off the bench. In short, after four months of uncertainty, the NBA season is really back. We all win.

In the first half, it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers was unstoppable and would blow the Dallas Mavericks off the floor going into the half leading 55-44. Was this the team picked up right where they left off beating down the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers the weekend before the shutdown? Well, a few things happened that leaves that into question.

  • Alex Caruso (Back contusion from a nasty fall in practice!) and Markieff Morris (Just getting out of quarantine!) didn’t play in the game.
  • LeBron James and Anthony Davis did not play in the second half.
  • Kentavious Caldwell-Pope rolled an ankle in the first half. 

Without the stars playing in the second half, the Lakers quickly lost their halftime lead thanks to a 27-13 run in the third quarter and ended up losing to the Dallas Mavericks 108-104.

This was a game that reminded everyone of the many strengths of the Los Angeles Lakers as well as their weaknesses. When Anthony Davis and LeBron James are sharing the floor (More on their performances in a minute) focused, this team is about as lethal as they come.

However, when LeBron James sits down, the offense bogs down and the ball movement falls off a cliff. Lake Show Life has been very opinionated (This writer at the top pf the list!) about how much the Lakers need Rondo to make plays down the line as the playoffs progress.

But the Lakers will have to figure out how to give LeBron some relief from the 40-42 minute responsibility of setting up his teammates throughout the playoffs. Maybe this what Colin Cowherd was talking about when Rondo broke his thumb for a six to eight-week absence.

Get used to the sports “experts” telling the world that the sky is falling because of this loss. In reality, this was just a scrimmage that has no meaning in the grand scheme of things which is a playoff run.

But Lake Show Life will say this. Frank Vogel and the coaching staff have a lot of work to do finding the right lineup combinations to get the Lakers half-court offense to be almost watchable without James on the floor.

But for now, who cares? The Los Angeles Lakers played a game on Thursday, July 23rd, 2020 and had no serious injuries. This is a win for all of us!

Los Angeles Lakers fans, welcome back because we missed bringing out Lake Show Life Lessons as much as you did reading and commenting. Let’s get to the first edition in months. Let’s start with the stars. Why not King James?

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