The Los Angeles Lakers need to improve against the Denver Nuggets
The Los Angeles Lakers are 2-4 in the Orlando bubble thus far and have not looked particularly inspiring. The team won its first game against the Los Angeles Clippers and then locked up the first seed in the West by defeated the Utah Jazz in the third game. The other four games have not been promising.
Frank Vogel has been experimenting with different lineups and rotations and these games do not really mean anything, so that creates a natural excuse not to be worried. However, if the Lakers do not pick it up in the last two games, fans should be concerned of a sluggish team heading into the NBA Playoffs.
Yes, LeBron James-led teams always look sluggish before the NBA Playoffs and then turn it on in the playoffs, I get that. The main worry about the Lakers is that the team is shooting awful, which even if you are coasting, is not a good sign.
Plus, all of the advantages that we were touting in March — home-court advantage, momentum and team chemistry — is gone. There is no home-court advantage, this team has no momentum and the Lakers are implementing new players to the rotation.
Not only is the on-court chemistry worse than it was four months ago but the off-court chemistry might not be all the way there, either. At least, that is what the concern is after LeBron James’ comments about things off the court that are out of his control.
The improvements need to start now so we can get a sense of that momentum and chemistry at least building. Here are the three areas that we are honing in on against Denver.