It has been over a month since LeBron James has suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers, and two since Anthony Davis has.
AD has been out since being diagnosed with a calf strain and Achilles tendinosis suffered during a Valentine’s Day contest against the Denver Nuggets. Including that game, the Lakers have gone 14-17 since losing AD.
In the games following Davis’ injury, LeBron and Co. produced a modest 7-6 record and were on a 4-game winning streak before LeBron endured a high ankle sprain on March 20 against the Atlanta Hawks at the Staples Center.
Since LeBron sustained his ankle injury, the Lakers were left without the best duo they have had since the late, great Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, and the team has gone 7-10 without them, including the loss in Atlanta.
Even though members of the Los Angeles Lakers have made it abundantly clear that they do not care about playoff seeding, the team slipping from the 2nd seed before the AD injury to currently holding the 5th seed in the Western Conference standings has many Lakers faithful distraught.
While seeing your two superstars go down for an extended period of time is never inherently good, Lakers fans should not worry. As long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis are in uniform by round 1, game 1, the Lakers will be just fine, and this time without them may actually prove to be of benefit to the team in the long run.
With AD set to return on April 22 against the Dallas Mavericks, and LeBron’s return likely occurring in a few weeks, it seems that the Lakers will actually have their full roster together regaining chemistry for at least a few games before the playoffs begin.
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The time away from both Anthony Davis and LeBron James has allowed Frank Vogel and basketball fans alike to see what “the other guys” are made of. Role players became starters, and for most, minutes and statistics increased. Even with that unavoidable occurrence considered, the Lakers have fared decently well without their two best players.
In the past month or so, we have seen improvements from many Lakers players, notably Dennis Schröder, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Markieff Morris. In addition, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have shown that they can provide scoring when needed, but the consistency is just not quite there for them yet.
One of the most important keys to winning a championship is having solid contributions from role players. Over the past couple of months, the Lakers role players have seen a rise in experience and confidence, which could prove to be huge come playoff time.
Let us take a closer look at how the Los Angeles Lakers have fared as of recently:
While the Lake Show has had some troubles on offense without their superstars, one thing has remained apparent: this team is an elite defensive team.
The Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA’s 2nd best team in opponent PPG on the season (106.1), and 5th best since AD went down with his injury (106.9).
In the month of April, the Lakers have remained the 7th best team in DFGM (39.3) and improved to the 5th best team in DFGA (84.6).
On top of that, the Lakers, who have the best defensive rating in the entire NBA this season (106 points per 100 possessions), have had the second-best DRTG since AD was injured (107.3), trailing only the Philadelphia 76ers in that window of time.
While the team has taken a hard fall to 29th in the league in offensive rating (104.7 PTS per 100 possessions) since LeBron injured his ankle, the current Lakers roster has seen an improvement in three-point shooting as of late.
Before April 1, the Lakers were, at best, a middle-of-the-road team in terms of three-point shooting. Since April began, the Lakers have been the 5th best team for 3P%, shooting 39.7% from three on 34.3 3PA.
During a deep playoff run, championship teams need their 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even 6th best guys to be reliable shot-makers. If these players can continue their success from beyond the arc once Anthony Davis and LeBron James return, making every shot count, especially threes, will prove to be crucial in the lower-scoring and slower-paced playoff games.
While Lakers fans are understandably eager to see their Hall of Fame duo back in action, their time away could truly be what their teammates needed in order to take that next step in confidence and development so that they can enter the playoffs at the top of their individual games.
Even though their absences were quite long, the Los Angeles Lakers medical team knows what they are doing. It is safe to assume that the risk of re-injury is low, as nobody in the organization would rush AD or LBJ to return to action even a minute too early. With that said, I expect Davis and James to be at 100% strength and effective immediately upon return.
In addition to the Lakers, many other teams have had their fair share of injury woes during this unique season. Most notably, the Denver Nuggets lost Jamal Murray to a torn ACL, and the Brooklyn Nets have struggled all season to have their big three all take the court together.
One unfortunate byproduct of these injuries that must be mentioned is that once again, LeBron James will likely miss out on a beyond overdue and well-deserved MVP. LBJ was the favorite for MVP before he got hurt, but now the media is pushing a narrative that will likely give the award to Nikola Jokić, or maybe Joel Embiid (for what it is worth, despite LeBron’s injury, as of today, he has still played more games this season than Joel has).
As the Lakers near a return to full strength, it is time to look ahead to the playoffs that are nearly a month away:
If the season ended today, the Lakers would have a Western Conference Finals rematch with the Nuggets in the first round. Obviously, things could change, and if LA slips to the 6th seed then NBA fans would get the “Battle of LA” matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers (if they cannot pass the Phoenix Suns and remain as the 3 seed) in the first round that they have been yearning for (probably earlier than most fans would like to see it).
Regardless of the first matchup, with LeBron and AD back on the court, it should be expected that the Lakers will take care of business as usual, and begin their quest to repeat as NBA Champions.
The prospect of a fully healthy Lakers team is exciting to think about, and it brings a multitude of questions to mind:
Will the rest of the team stay in stride while returning to their roles? How will the addition of Andre Drummond look next to Anthony Davis in the Lakers’ new starting frontcourt? Will there be any noticeable changes in team chemistry?
These are all questions that we will have answered in the coming weeks, and most definitely in the playoffs.
Let us hope that the Lakers have used this time without LeBron James and Anthony Davis as a time to learn and grow.
As far as I am concerned, I still expect the Los Angeles Lakers to play the Brooklyn Nets in late July.
All great championship-caliber teams overcome adversity, and this team will prove to be no exception. If the Lakers manage to hold up the Larry O’Brien Trophy under the purple and gold confetti once again, we may look at this time as a key driving force in the evolution, development, and improvement of the entire 2020-2021 Los Angeles Lakers team.