Los Angeles Lakers start title defense with a loss to the Phoenix Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers started their NBA title defense against the second seeded Phoenix Suns on the road. LeBron James brought enough drama with his off the court activities over the weekend, but played very well to the Lakers off to a good start. The good times didn’t last as the Lakers were bullied by the Suns. 

The Los Angeles Lakers started their playoffs season on Sunday afternoon. It’s just not certain if the team or the coaches realized it yet. Maybe they’ll get an understanding of the magnitude of postseason intensity in game two.

The Los Angeles Lakers started the postseason the same way they did last year, losing their first playoff game to the Phoenix Suns, 99-90.

It really doesn’t matter what happened in this game, the Los Angeles Lakers narrowly avoided disaster by the hands of LeBron James. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported  Saturday morning that violated protocol by being present at a promotional event for a tequila brand he invests in this past week. The NBA did not suspend James for the violation, but did address the matter with the Lakers.

TNT’s Charles Barkley spoke on what a lot of NBA fans thoughts to Yahoo! Sports.

"“I love Adam Silver, rest in peace David Stern, best commissioner in sports. The NBA ain’t got the balls to f***ing suspend LeBron James. Zero. Listen, today, when I read that, I just — sometimes you read stuff, you just start laughing. “Hey, the NBA, they ain’t got no chance of suspending LeBron James. If it was a nobody, they would put him in healthy and safety protocols. Ain’t no f***ing way LeBron James is going to be sitting out with all the health and safety protocols. When I read that, I just started laughing. LeBron James is playing Sunday. Guarantee.”"

The Lake Show are now down 1-0 in the series with game two scheduled for Tuesday.

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

LeBron James came out focused trying to get his playoff chops sharp!

As stated before, it was totally ridiculous that LeBron violated the NBA’s Health and Safety protocols that could have put his team in a bind. But if any of his teammates had any questions on if the “King” was ready to defend the NBA title, they might want to check Bron’s dental records.

LeBron James knocked down two early shots from distance on his way to 8 points in his first four minutes of the game.

However, LeBron hurt his shoulder in the second half.  He finished with 18 points, 10 assists and 5 turnovers. Much more on him later.

Montrezl Harrell played well…in the first half!

If you are a new reader to Lake Show Life, welcome. Yes this looks like a sarcastic headline and to be honest, it is. See the Los Angeles Lakers would have NEVER been in the play-in tournament if Frank Vogel hadn’t given Harrell DNP-CDs (Lakers finished below .500 by the way!), but Trezl got in the game early and provided the energy from the dunker’s spot as usual and abusing Dario Saric in their matchup.

He had 10 points in his first 11 minutes.

He played four more minutes in the game finishing with 12 points. It seems the only man that can stop Montrezl Harrell from scoring and providing energy in the NBA is Frank Vogel.

The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

Chris Paul got hurt…

CP3 injured his shoulder in the second quarter and was diagnosed with a right shoulder contusion. Thankfully he was able to return to the game. This guy has been snake bitten for his playoff career. Everyone remembers the hamstring injury, but Paul always seemed to have injury issues with the Clippers as well. If you are a real NBA fan and not a casual, you want to see a healthy CP3 try to compete in the NBA playoffs.

Anthony Davis had a bad game! 

AD is going to have to be more aggressive than this. There is no way a player of his caliber (Forget his size!) occupying the middle for the first half with one rebound. That rebound was JUST BEFORE HALFTIME! He didn’t get to the free throw line either only getting two free throws. What does that mean? He wasn’t aggressive and played out of rhythm.

3-9 for 7 points in the first half is not going to get it. Anthony Davis needs to be better. The Lakers will be going home soon with 13 points (5-16 shooting!) and 7 rebounds.

Deandre Ayton destroyed the Lakers frontline!

When the Lakers upset the Suns in their last matchup of the season, one of the main reasons was Deandre Ayton wasn’t just bad, he was invisible. He took his first shot of the entire contest around halftime and took two shots in the entire game. He was not aggressive and the Lakers had a layup line in the game.

In his first playoff game, Ayton had his own coming out party being aggressive and dominating the rebounding glass. On the offensive end, Phoenix remembered how easy they can play the pick and roll using Ayton as the roll man…

Ayton dominated to the tune of 21 points (10-11 shooting!), 16 rebounds (8 offensive!) with a block.

Devin Booker came out looking to score!

Devin Booker was the other reason why the Los Angeles Lakers upset the Suns at the end of the regular season. He was listless and lacked intensity on the offensive end. That was not the case in game one.

Booker finished with 34 points (13-26 shooting!) and 8 assists and 7 rebounds. When the Lakers hit him with the double team, he made sure to make the right play instead of forcing shots. When they didn’t, boy he gave them the business.

Kyle Kuzma’s contribution…

Close your eyes. What do you see? Nothing? Moving on.

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

The 11:00-9:00 period of the last quarter!

Frank Vogel inserted Alex Caruso in the game and chaos (Great for the Lakers!) broke loose. Caruso drew two offensive fouls. May have gotten a third on Cameron Payne, but it led to a turnover where LeBron James scored a layup and drew a foul.

Then there was this chippy situation with Cameron Payne that got the Suns guard tossed with double technical fouls. The question going forward is…

Will Deandre Ayton be suspended? 

During the fracas, Ayton took ONE STEP from the bench before being grabbed back. If he’s suspended after LeBron James’ reprieve…the NBA will have a lot of explaining to do.

Get ready for the fake “Shoulder Specialists” for a couple of days.

Chris Paul and LeBron James both hurt their shoulders pretty good in this game and it affected both players. The training staffs for both teams will be working hard for this series. Twitter and Facebook doctors will be all the rage.

LeBron James has to own this loss. This is squarely on him.

The violation of the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocol was a distraction. It sent a message. He was not ready for this game and the team followed suit. This is the playoffs Lakers Nation. There has to be a focus for every game based on preparation. If he wants to be the leader. be one.

If fans can clown Lou Williams for getting “Lemon Pepper” wings last year, the same attention can be handed to LeBron for tequila.