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Don’t worry, the 2021 Los Angeles Lakers are just fine

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 10: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers is interviewed after the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center on February 10, 2021 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. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 10: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers is interviewed after the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center on February 10, 2021 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. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers currently have the second-best record in the Western Conference and are winners of five straight, but things still don’t seem to be quite right. While the Lakers are winning games, these games are typically uglier than fans would like.

For just the seventh time in NBA history, the Lakers have won three consecutive games all in overtime. The problem is that these games were not against the most notable of foes.

It took two overtimes for the Lakers to beat the Detroit Pistons and then took an additional two overtimes across two games to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder — who did not have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the second game.

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It is the ugliest six-game winning streak possible and sometimes it is easy to get caught up in how the Lakers are winning these games, not the fact that they are winning.

That is fair as well. At the end of the day, the exact number of regular-season wins does not really matter and what matters the most is how the team will play in the playoffs. Regular season trends could carry over into the NBA Playoffs.

While it has been ugly, I would still stress one thing:

Do not panic about the Los Angeles Lakers.

First of all, Anthony Davis was not playing in the last two games. The Los Angeles Lakers are being cautious with his Achilles tendinitis and rightfully so. The important thing is getting AD to the playoffs healthy. Any wins along the way while he is not playing is an added plus.

But even without AD, the Lakers are still a far more talented team than most teams. The Thunder don’t have LeBron James and the supporting cast that he has. The Thunder dressed eight players on Wednesday and the most talented was Al Horford. This is a team that the Lakers should have smoked.

They didn’t and quite frankly, it is what it is. Every single contending teams drops games to bad teams and goes through stretches like this where they play ugly games. It happens.

Does anyone remember the four-game losing streak from last season? Probably not. And if you do, you probably are not losing sleep over a four-game losing streak in a title-winning season.

The Lakers may have gotten off to a very ugly start in the second game against the Thunder but the important thing is that they battled back, got into the game and won it. We have seen that time and time again from the Lakers this season. They are never really finished until the final whistle.

The most important numbers that I would be concerned about are the crunchtime numbers, which indicate that the Lakers are just fine. The clutch numbers are when the game really matters and that is what makes a great playoff team — playing well when the game is on the line.

That is why good teams win ugly games and bad teams lose them.

Per NBA.com’s clutch numbers, the Los Angeles Lakers rank third in Net Rating, third in effective Field Goal percentage, third in true shooting percentage and fourth in assist/turnover ratio in the clutch.

Simply put: the Los Angeles Lakers are one of the best teams in the league in several key metrics when the game is on the line. These games are ugly but ugly wins are better than pretty losses.

And they are still 20-6! This is not a meddling .500 team that is winning ugly games against bad teams. This is a team that is tied for the most wins in the league!

Every great team has close wins against bad teams, Laker fans just don’t realize them as they are following their own team.

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Don’t panic. The Los Angeles Lakers are just fine.

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