Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons not to worry about loss to Utah Jazz
By Jason Reed
2. The Los Angeles Lakers were playing seriously depleted
This almost goes without saying but it is a huge part of this story. This was not the Los Angeles Lakers that led to the team having the best advanced metrics in the league earlier this season. This was not the Los Angeles Lakers who will hopefully be suiting up in the NBA Playoffs.
This was a Los Angeles Lakers team that was missing its most impactful player when you consider his impact on both ends as well as their fourth-best player, Dennis Schroder.
Outside of LeBron James, these are the two hardest players to replace for the Lakers. Schroder is harder to replace than Montrezl Harrell because of what he offers to the team. Without Schroder, the team is really laking a secondary playmaker and the backcourt defense takes a hit.
MUST-READ: The 10 best Lakers teams of all-time
Davis also typically plays really well against the Jazz. Davis torched Rudy Gobert in the NBA bubble last season in one of the few promising games from the eight seeding games. His defense is paramount to this team and the Lakers simply have not been able to limit hit offensive output.
The Lakers can survive without Davis, they did so earlier in the season. Also not having Schroder puts a massive toll on LeBron James and at the end of the day he is 36 years old and this is February.
He is not going to completely will the team to win these regular-season games in the same way that he would in the NBA Playoffs with the Cleveland Cavaliers.