Los Angeles Lakers: 4 lessons from Easter Sunday Clippers beatdown

The Los Angeles Lakers spent their Easter Sunday playing the Los Angeles Clippers in front of a nationally televised audience. The Lakers laid an egg in their Sunday matinee as the Clippers destroyed the Lake Show in front of a nationally televised audience.

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. 

Most of Lakers Nation knew that an upset wasn’t coming for the injury-depleted Los Angeles Lakers against an almost completely intact Los Angeles Clippers squad. Stars are needed to win games and it showed as the Clippers beat down the Lakers 104-86 on Easter Sunday.

What’s disturbing about this loss was how the outcome played out for the Lakers. Coming into this game, the Lake Show played their most complete game on Friday night beating the Sacramento Kings.

It was a chance to build on the good habits (Ball movement…3 point shooting…defense) shown in a surprising blowout. Instead, the Lakers came out listless and played from behind nearly from the start.

This quote from Lakers reporter, Mike Trudell sums up how bad the Lakers’ offense was.

"Kyle Kuzma said he didn’t think the Lakers played together on offense today, in contrast to how they moved the ball and trusted the pass against SAC, or in previous wins vs. CLE/ORL last week."

Lake Show Life has a player that could be solely responsible for the backslide in offensive efficiency (More on that later!), but this game could be summed up by the Morris twins matchup. In the first quarter, both were playing well.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1378802372168794117

Check the overall breakdowns of the twins, Markieff and Marcus Morris.

Markieff Morris:

• Scored the first seven Lakers points on 3-3 shooting. The rest of the starters? Three turnovers and three missed shots early in the first quarter.
• He finished the first frame with 9 points on 4-5 shooting.
• Keef got only five more shots the rest of the game (Most when the game was over!) finishing with 9 points on 4-10 shooting.

 Marcus Morris:

• Marcus was matching his brother shot for shot. The only issue was he had some help from his teammates. The Clippers hit their first five shots that extended to seven of eight.
• By halftime, Morris Sr. was leading everyone in scoring with 17 points on 7-9 shooting.
• The Clippers kept feeding their Morris twin the ball to keep shooting. He ended up leading the Clippers in scoring with 22 points.

Thanks to Markieff Morris being shut down by the Lakers offensive scheme (Or a certain point guard not recognizing the hot hand!), Marc Gasol was the first Laker in double figures after the third quarter and the only starter in double figures with 11 points.

He knocked down three shots from behind the arc and scored this basket to account for his point total.

This Lakers’ loss will drop the Lakers to 5th place in the Western Conference standings with a Denver Nuggets win over the Orlando Magic.

The Los Angeles Lakers are now going on an extended East Coast trip that starts in Tampa Florida against the Toronto Raptors. The rest of the week gets a lot tougher with the Miami Heat on Thursday and the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.

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!

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!

Kyle Kuzma followed his best game of the season with one of his worst! 

The Kyle Kuzma debates continue. Half of Lakers Nation believes he’s going to be a major cog in the championship aspirations of this franchise.

The other half believes that he’s an inconsistent player that has hit his ceiling and should be used as a trade asset for better players. The website has covered the situation time and time again.

•  Lakers: The effort to understand the toxicity surrounding Kyle Kuzma

Now the staff will sit back and just watch the tennis match of criticisms. It’s not like Kuz is making it easy for anyone’s argument at this point. After showing that he can be a Hall of Famer against any NBA team coached by Luke Walton scoring 30 points Friday night, he follows it up with a complete clunker two days later.

It’s not like Kuzma is not trying. No player that dogs it (Oh we have an example coming real soon!) gives up on plays like this.

Then he can turn around and airball a free throw so badly that he’s checking his form on the way to the bench during a timeout.

The identity crisis of Kyle Kuzma continued with a stat line of 6 points (2-10 shooting, 0-4 from 3 point land!), 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

It is getting mentioned on numerous broadcasts that Kyle Kuzma has struggled to find his role at times with the Lakers. Okay, that narrative may hold water when AD and LeBron are in the lineup, but NOW??!!!!

This franchise needs Kuz to score the basketball by aggressively looking for his shot. Ten shots is not aggressive even when the superstars are playing! Without them that number is ridiculous. When this team gets on a plane for Florida, Kuzma had better packing his shooting arm because the team struggles to score obviously when he hit single digits in the scoring column.

Oh you thought Kyle Kuzma was not aggressive? Read on to see how Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did. They were worse!

The Los Angeles Lakers got virtually nothing from KCP and Alex Caruso in the scoring column.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope:

(Checking the notes…frantically!) Isn’t the job of the shooting guard to shoot the basketball?

Maybe KCP is like Kyle Kuzma and just shoots well against Luke Walton-coached teams.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope buried his jumps shot back in the sand scoring 8 points on 3-9 shooting. Before the apologists start defending the box score, KCP scored the last two 3 pointers when the game was well in doubt. Was it the defensive matchups that were wearing him down (Okay granted, it’s not easy to stop 6’8 guys from scoring when you are 6’3)? Is it his confidence that is basically gone at this point? Who knows. At this point, it does not matter.

If KCP is not willing to take shots to space the offense and can’t stop the opposition on defense, maybe it’s time to go to the bench and find favorable matchups against the other team’s second unit.

Alex Caruso:

Remember when Alex Caruso was supposed to be the Lakers’ “Secret weapon” and one of the best players on the roster…like a couple of months ago?

"“He’s certainly one of our best players,” “That’s the simplest way to put it. He typically moves the needle in a positive direction and you see that with the plus-minus…  Alex is just one of those guys that impacts both ends of the floor. “(He) really, really impacts our defense, and his versatility offensively, the ability to knock down threes and also make plays off the bounce, be a good screener, be a crasher, be a roller in LeBron’s pick and rolls, they’re all ways that he impacts the offensive end as well."

Well (Checking the calendar), it’s April and since his time out with COVID-19 and concussion protocols, things are starting to regress for the CaruShow. He finished with 8 points on 2-6 shooting with 2 assists. The problem is the points come when the game is over.

The Lakers have to start wondering if it’s worth paying $8-10 million for a player that puts up these stats in the future.

• This season: 5.6 points and 2.4 assists. Shoots 39.1 percent from the 3-point line and 41.1 percent from the field.
• Career: 5.6 points and 2.4 assists. Shoots 37 percent from the 3 point-line and 42.2 percent from the field. 

This is not a bashing session for Alex Caruso because he does compete when he is on the floor (Something not every guard did in this game!), but his game is severely compromised with no Anthony Davis and LeBron James. He is one of the players that depend so much on the stars that his game is getting exposed as time goes on.

Lake Show Life has shown hints throughout this article about the player that will wear the bullseye for how badly the Los Angeles Lakers played. Plus there’s a warning for Lakers fans and the franchise. Read on to see what they are.

The Los Angeles Lakers need to help Schroder get his contract and send him packing!

Message for Lakers fans: Mark these words, Dennis Schroder is playing for his next contract and not the Los Angeles Lakers!

Dennis Schroder woke up the morning of the game to breaking news (Aka Woj Bomb!) out of Milwaukee via ESPN.

"Jrue Holiday has agreed to a four-year, $135 million extension that includes bonuses that could take the deal to $160 million, agent Jason Glushon told Adrian Wojnarowski."

Lake Show Life will say this now and the rest of the NBA world will catch up. Dennis Schroder is being counted on for leadership, playmaking and scoring for this franchise. This just in Lakers fans, you may get scoring from time to time and playmaking once in about three or four games. But leadership? PFFT!

Dennis Schroder played terribly, finishing with 8 points on 3-12 shooting and 7 assists. He was seen arguing on the floor with his teammates about defensive breakdowns during this game with Kyle Kuzma. Well, film doesn’t lie and Lake Show Life sides with Kuz.

Dennis Schroder is defending Paul George, right? Guess who ends up shooting and how Dennis plays defense.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the top-rated defense in the NBA but seem to struggle with stopping points in the paint. Want to know why?

The worst video of his defensive play we could not find. Schroder literally looked at the referee with his hands up while a Clipper went in for an easy layup.

Dennis Schroder wants a big payday folks. Until he gets it, the Lakers are not going to get 100 percent out of Dennis Schroder. This writer warned the readers that this would happen as far back as last year’s trade deadline and it’s happening. Think it’s bad now? Here’s an invitation to watch the Lakers play Brooklyn on Saturday night.

The Lakers can only offer Dennis $83 million dollars and he turned it down (Assuming you believe Brian Windhorst). If that is true, the front office needs to find a team to set up a sign and trade deal or let him walk and get a trade exception.

Either way, let this guy walk because things are going to get worse with this guy. The Lake Show Life Lessons staff had this guy pegged in the preseason and we are not wrong now.

Lake Show Life has extended its post-game coverage this season! There will be short post-game reports shortly after the game in addition to the extended post-game of Lake Show Life Lessons! 

More championship coverage for championship fans.