Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons in a playoff opening beating by the Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers started their NBA title defense odyssey against the second seeded Phoenix Suns on the road. The Lakers started their playoff challenge the exact way they did last year against the Portland Trail Blazers last year…in a loss!

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.

The Los Angeles Lakers survived being outplayed by the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament to nab the 7th seed thanks to second-half heroics by Anthony Davis and a 34-foot “Hail Mary” by LeBron James. On Sunday, the Lakers realized a couple of things the Phoenix Suns have that the Warriors don’t.

Number one…The Phoenix Suns don’t turn the ball over 15 times in the second half to let teams get back in games.

Number two…Devin Booker has a big man in Deandre Ayton to pass the ball to knowing that he’ll finish at the basket as opposed to Stephen Curry passing to Draymond who can’t score in an empty gym.

The Los Angeles Lakers have a peculiar habit of blowing the first game of recent early playoff series and this one was no different in losing to the Phoenix Suns 99-90. The Lakers now trail the first-round series 1-0 going into Tuesday for Game 2.

For the next 24-36 hours, the debates will be flying about if the loss is a big deal or not. There will definitely be two clear sides.

There’s the narrative that the Los Angeles Lakers have fallen behind before only to come roaring back to win…

Remember these turn of events in every series in the bubble last year?

• The Damian Lillard brushing the dirt off his shoulder in the Trail Blazers only win before the Lakers gave then the Gentlemen’s sweep.
• Then there was Russell Westbrook’s expletive-laden tirade that should have had the FCC calling him to tone it down before the Lake Show picked on him for four straight games to the point he got into it with Rajon Rondo’s brother.
• Then there was the Jamal Murray doing the reverse shimmy running backwards in the conference finals before AD knocked down that infamous 3 pointer over Nikola Jokic to boost the Lakers to the NBA Finals.
• Finally there was Jimmy Butler mouthing “You in trouble” to LeBron James and that Tyler Herro smirk (Sidebar: That is a dumbest look…) before LA took the NBA title. 

Then there’s the other side of the equation. Lake Show Life Lessons has been stating this all season, but now it’s going mainstream.

Lakers Nation had better start wrapping their minds around this concept. This is a very different Los Angeles Lakers team with parts that are either not fitting or head coach Frank Vogel is not using correctly at the right times. Let’s start with the obvious differences.

The frontline defense is weaker:

Dwight Howard is in Philly. Yes, Dwight has quite a history in the purple and gold, but one thing was clear. He is strong enough to put a player on the floor hard and block a shot to the food concession stands.

JaVale McGee is in Denver. No matter with all of the Shaqtin’ A Fool fame, the guy is still one of the better rim protectors with his athleticism.

That’s the strong side of last year’s Lakers defense. Couple that with Anthony Davis and LeBron James coming from the weakside, layups were not an option.

The perimeter defense is a LOT weaker:

Yes, Lake Show Life was brutal to Danny Green because the guy flat out could not shoot a lick from behind the arc. However, the guy did bring it somewhat on the defensive end at times. 

Even though Avery Bradley was not in the bubble, he was the Lakers best on the ball defender. 

Let the Lake Show Life Lessons staff clear up the constant “The Los Angeles Lakers are the number one net rated defense in the NBA” brought up in every Lakers national TV broadcast.

Number one defenses don’t get smoked in rebounding to the tune of 47-33 while giving up 16 offensive rebounds. The Lakers gave up 21 second-chance points. In short rebounding is the last step of playing defense.

The obvious debate was which superstar deserved the most blame in Lake Show Life’s early post-game report…

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

But the problems run a lot deeper than just saying LeBron and AD needing to raise their level of play. That is obvious, they both stunk for various reasons (More on that in a second!), but the fact remains this team was not ready to play.

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 this entire postseason!

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!