Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons in overtime loss to Wizards
By Ronald Agers
The Los Angeles Lakers are in a state of transition folks. They carried a two-game losing streak to the Staples Center against the Washington Wizards. The Lakers played another bad team at home and got forced into overtime.
Only this one ended differently than the other trilogy of overtimes against Detroit and Oklahoma City. They ran out of gas losing to the Wizards. The real story concerning roster changes happened after the game!
Lake Show Life breaks down what else happened in Lake Show Life Lessons! The only Los Angeles Lakers extended post-game report with in-depth analysis and highlights.
Coming into this game, one team was on a serious roll upsetting three of the NBA’s top contenders.
- The Boston Celtics: 104-91
- The Houston Rockets: 131-119
- The Denver Nuggets: 130-128
- Portland Trail Blazers: 118-111
Unfortunately, the hot team wasn’t the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lake Show was looking to bounce back from a two-game losing streak against the Washington Wizards. Well…the Wizards are still hot.
One 35-foot brick from LeBron James followed by a Kyle Kuzma airball and the Lakers end up with a bad loss to the Washington Wizards 127-124.
The Los Angeles Lakers ending up playing yet another Staples Center overtime game against yet another under .500 opponent. Only this time, the Lakers didn’t get out of Staples Center with a win.
The Lakers have lost four out of their last five games with the Utah Jazz are waiting in the wings on Wednesday night. Let lake Show Life tell it straight. The Los Angeles Lakers are playing poorly right now and everyone knows it. Just look at the past five games.
- Loss vs. Wizards 127-124 (Blew a 17 point lead to another below .500 team and get forced into overtime!).
- Loss vs. Heat 96-94 (The Miami Heat sports one of the worst offenses in the NBA, but a second-year player in Kendrick Nunn goes crazy for 27 points!).
- Loss vs. Nets 109-98 (No Kevin Durant! Kyrie Irving had an off shooting night!)
- Win vs. Timberwolves 112-104 (Remember Minnesota is the worst team in the NBA that just fired their head coach, Ryan Saunders on Sunday night!).
- Loss vs. Nuggets 122-105 (Nothing special, the Lakers got smoked!).
This is the visual of who beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1364060798155321347
Bradley Beal finished with 33 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Russell Westbrook finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists.
Breaking News to Lake Show Life! Quinn Cook was waived after the game according to Shams Charania…
"The Los Angeles Lakers are waiving guard Quinn Cook, sources tell The Athletic and Stadium. Teams are expected to express interest in Cook, who has served as a reliable guard and locker room voice for two title teams in LA and Golden State."
Now, what does that mean for the Los Angeles Lakers?
- Quinn Cook’s contract would have been fully guaranteed after February 24th. If that happened, the Lakers could only sign one player to the pro-rated veteran’s minimum. Now, that Cook is gone, they can sign two.
- Waiving Cook opens up financial flexibility for potential trades. Since Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers have been “active” in trade discussions putting Houston Rockets forward P.J. Tucker in the mix, that rumor could gain steam.
If you trust this writer’s instincts, get ready for a DeMarcus Cousins reunion. The other roster spot filled by P.J. Tucker? That’s anybody’s guess.
To the new Los Angeles Lakers fans that are checking us out for the first time, welcome to Lake Show Life Lessons. Our extended post-game report with video analysis will cover the progress for the Los Angeles Lakers the entire season!
Over the next several pages we will provide highlights of certain players and coaches. Afterward, the comment section is loaded with knowledgeable fans adding their basketball knowledge. We usually start with the stars.
Let’s get to Lesson One to find out who!