Los Angeles Lakers: 4 lessons from Easter Sunday Clippers beatdown

Montrezl Harrell and Talen Horton-Tucker competed for the Los Angeles Lakers. That’s a good thing right?

This game was about the energy and effort (Or lack thereof!) the Lakers brought. Lake Show Life would like to introduce two players that provided it while they were on the floor. Here’s a fun fact. When the Lakers made a modest 13-8 run in the final quarter, Montrezl Harrell and Talen Horton Tucker sparked the surge for the team’s best scoring quarter of the game.

Montrezl Harrell:

Montrezl Harrell was honored with a video tribute from the Clippers before the game.

Then Trezl kept it moving finishing with a strong stat line of 19 points (7-12 shooting!), 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. In a game that Ivica Zubac made a huge impact (Man that trade for Mike Muscala is looking worse and worse!), Harrell continued to provide some sort of low post scoring and more importantly didn’t quit on this game.

This Lake Show Life writer rarely does hot takes so enjoy the moment.

Talen Horton-Tucker needs to be in the starting lineup.

THT followed up his 15 point (6-12 shooting!) Friday night performance with a 16 point (7-14 shooting!) output with the same amount of effort that keeps him in the Lakers rotation. The 20-year-old outplayed the rest of the guard rotation.

At first glance, seeing these stats collected after the Lakers were down 20 points or more doesn’t seem like very much. But taking a closer look AT LEAST he was still hustling to actually attain these stats after the game was over.

The team needs a shakeup in the starting lineup and Horton-Tucker should have a chance in the starting lineup. Why?

• For all of his shortcomings (3 point shooting, tendency to turn the ball over, playmaking), this guy does not take plays off.
• He is willing to shoot when open.
• He will attack the basket with confidence.
• Finally he is strong enough to bother bigger players on the box on defense. 

If Dennis Schroder was not playing (More on him later!) this discussion would not be a big deal. However, it is sad that a Lake Show Life Lesson is about finding players on the roster that actually competed in this game.

These are the bright spots for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lake Show Life staff warns fans that hate criticism of their team, it might be a good time to bail out now. For the rest that really wants to know the impending issues that lie deeper than no LeBron James and Anthony Davis…Read on!