The Los Angeles Lakers sadly could not go to the White House and celebrate winning the NBA Finals last year, but they had enough to worry about facing the NBA’s leading scorer in Bradley Beal, a white-hot Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards. When does LeBron come back again?
The Los Angeles Lakers have ten games left in the season. In that time frame, they had better start figuring out how many LeBron James needs to get ready for the playoffs. The offense needs him and playing the hottest team in the NBA only illuminated that fact.
The Lakers lost to the Wizards 116-107 to fall to 36-26. They are one game in the loss column ahead of the Dallas Mavericks, who own the season tiebreaker.
The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
Anthony Davis had a strong start.
AD’s journey back to 100% continues to go as planned for him and the Los Angeles Lakers. Just take a look at the numbers for the first three games.
- First game against Dallas: 16 minutes, 4 points on 2-10 shooting. 4 rebounds.
- Second game against Dallas: 28 minutes, 17 points on 5-19 shooting. 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
- Orlando Magic: 31 minutes, 18 points on 8-15 shooting. 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
What stood out in this game as opposed to the others was the Lakers placed him closer to the basket to work instead of sitting out on the perimeter looking for jumpers. A strong turnaround jumper accompanied by this great look from Kyle Kuzma…
Pass, Pass, Power. pic.twitter.com/WFPEd859Hn
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 29, 2021
Then with another dunk being set up by Talen Horton-Tucker on the break, Davis got his rhythm early in the first frame with 8 points on 4-6 shooting. He is getting closer to the AD we all know and love with 26 points. He is working on the areas that he operated in the bubble last year with positive results.
Montrezl Harrell is destroying the NBA in the last couple of games!
Ever since Trezl sat out the Dallas game on Saturday night, if he was upset about it, he’s taking it out on opposing centers. After abusing the Orlando frontline (Especially Mo Bamba!), Harrell carried out his in-the-paint bullying on Robin Lopez and knocking down his first five shots in the first half in nine minutes.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1387570930684071942
What else did he do? More on that later. Lake Show Life found someone that can stop Trezl down low.
Andre Drummond might have played his most meaningful game of the season!
Lakers fans got to see a potentially strong one-two punch in the two ADs when Davis gets his legs completely under him. Drummond scored 17 points and 11 rebounds. Plus he showed a little bit of athleticism.
Dre Dazzles pic.twitter.com/QuoEtaHBHy
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 29, 2021
What else did he do? More on that later. Lake Show Life found someone that can stop Dre down low.
Lakers fans…this was a very entertaining game!
All beat writers and bloggers have a job in covering the game and getting these reports out to you the fan. But we all want to see a good game. The Orlando game was one of the more difficult games to watch much less put together a report. Friend to Lake Show Life, Corky Carroll says it all in the comment section.
"Was a hard game to watch, glad it’s you covering it Ron and not me…. GO LAKERS."
This game was a lot better. The Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards put on a offensive show of how NBA basketball should be played for a few stretches. Both teams played to their strengths.
- Lakers bullying inside with Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell (For a while!)
- Wizards scoring using their perimeter players Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal, Ish Smith and others.
The skillsets of both teams made this game very entertaining. Was there defense being played? Yes. But good offense can beat good defense sometimes in the NBA.
The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
The offense AFTER the first quarter…
The Los Angeles Lakers were up 35-31 after the first quarter!
The bugaboo continues to be bad quarters during games. The Lakers went over five minutes without scoring a basket which spearheaded a 18-8 run by the Wizards to fall behind six at halftime. If it wasn’t for two timely 3 point shots by Kuzma, things could have been a lot worse.
The wheels fell off in the second half. 20 points in the third quarter and the 30 in the fourth really didn’t matter.
Frank Vogel’s rotations!
Lake Show Life readers bombard the staff with questions about Frank Vogel’s rotations. The staff has the same answer…Who knows?
Well, this is why readers are upset.
- Montrezl Harrell did well in the first half right? Three minutes in the second half.
- Andre Drummond had a double-double right? He was on a milk carton when the Lakers made it close.
- Fans got to enjoy Ben McLemore, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anthony Davis fire up 3 pointers. Guess the one out of the three that was actually hitting a few?
Why any coach would sit down front-court players that were a combined 13-18 from the field…
Who knows?
Bradley Beal did not go cold!
This dude is so much fun to watch. If anyone has a problem reading this, they just don’t appreciate great efficient scorers in the NBA. After missing his first two shots from the field. Bradley Beal put on a clinic in the first half hitting 7-10 shots. One of those misses was a 3 pointer that went halfway down and came back out. He went crazy in crunch time and finished with 27 points.
Russell Westbrook is starting to take the criticisms personally!
Here’s what Russell Westbrook was doing through April 23rd according to ESPN Stats and Info…
- 20 triple-doubles in his last 30 games
- 18 triple-doubles in his last 25
- 16 triple-doubles in his last 20
- 13 triple-doubles in his last 15
- 9 triple-doubles in his last 10
Despite his performance as of late, he can’t shake the criticisms or apathy that has accompanied his record-breaking pace. Since ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith called him out for gaining these stats without winning, Westbrook has been on a mission.
After breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record for triple-doubles in a month, the beat just went on for Russ. He finished with another triple-double with 18 points, 18 REBOUNDS and 14 assists.
The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
Sometimes, you just gotta shake a man’s hand when you get beat!
Forget the Wizards record Lakers fans, these guys are trouble for some teams in the Eastern Conference. A couple of weeks ago, Charles Barkley gave out a warning.
"“None of those teams in the Eastern Conference want to see the Wizards with Russ and Bradley in the playoffs. They’re gonna win the play-in,” Barkley said. “I love Russ and Bradley Beal. To me, I’d pay to watch Russell Westbrook play basketball.”"
Lake Show Life is notorious for blasting the Lakers for lack of effort, but to be honest, the Washington Wizards are playing like the hottest team in the NBA (Checking notes…), because they are.