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)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/5c90216d06ccbc8b5ad8ab6e76ce0f61d150256ba6f643b00e3f62a04ada678f.jpg)
Kyle Kuzma will continue to drive Lakers Nation nuts!
The FanSided NBA division might have to let a couple of Lake Show Life staff members go to the Orlando bubble for a few months (Yes, Ronald Agers will go!) because something is not right here based on the reports coming out of the Lakers camp and what was shown on the floor against the Dallas Mavericks.
What happened to the times in the practices when Kyle Kuzma was good? No check that, dominating everyone in practice? Did AD and LeBron take a nap during practice? Doing interviews? Stretching? Hot tub? What’s going on here? Kyle Kuzma shows the same flashy plays here and there drowned out by inefficient play and false stats.
We’ll get to stats in a moment, but Kuzma was abused by Luka Doncic every time he was in front of him. Like Lake Show Life always says, film don’t lie.
Luka might've dunked it too hard 😅 pic.twitter.com/YsR68FRzED
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 23, 2020
- Kuzma fails to fight through the screen set by Kristaps Porzingis. This is not the most physical big man in the NBA, so this puts the effort in perspective.
- Allows Doncic free reign to the basket. Kyle should know that Dwight Howard won’t be there because he has to honor Porzingis’ 3 point range.
- Sure LeBron James is there but look who he’s guarding? That would be Seth Curry, who didn’t miss a shot all night.
- Finally, the defense was so bad, neither had a chance to react quickly enough. Then look at the body language of Kyle Kuzma as Vogel calls time out.
Kyle Kuzma still, at least from what was seen in this game, wants to score and make the highlight reel. The problem is that Kuzma was not efficient in scoring on the other end. Scoring 9 points, fragmenting the motion offense that Frank Vogel wants on a bad 4-13 shooting with two turnovers is not going to get him a roster spot in the playoffs or next year for that matter.
dark. Next. LeBron takes a stab at the Washington Football Team
But, the Los Angeles Lakers played in an NBA game. The fans still win. The next game is on Saturday against the Orlando Magic at 9:00 A.M. Pacific. You West Coast fans will need to set the alarm clock.