2. LeBron James teams always seem to be in a lull before the NBA Playoffs
This is the ultimate spin zone and there is equally as high of a chance that this is a legitimate factor as it is that it is total nonsense. However, this is not the first time that a LeBron James-led team was in a lull before the playoffs and every other time the team showed up for the playoffs when it mattered most.
That would help explain a lot for the Lakers. Not only are they playing games that do not matter, but they are playing without fans in games that do not matter. Suddenly, the most important thing becomes staying healthy, not winning games.
We can kind of see this out of LeBron as well. He has shown really good spurts where he looks like in his MVP form but we have also seen a lot of stretches where he is our there coasting. Heck, he even didn’t play the second leg of a back-to-back.
This might not been anything at all to be concerned about and this might just be the Lakers not wanting to reveal too much, Frank Vogel wanting to perfect rotations and LeBron simply telling his guys not to go full speed ahead in these games.
Does that explain the team missing so many three-point shots? Well, no. But it does explain teh lack of energy and care for turning the ball over thus far.
Is it a blanket excuse? Not at all, and I would rather see the Lakers firing on all cylinders heading into the playoffs than playing this bad of basketball. However, we have seen this before in LeBron’s career, giving us a reason to believe that it might not end up meaning anything.