Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons on how the Lakers can survive Phoenix

The Los Angeles Lakers need LeBron James to score 40 points for the rest of the series!

After the loss in Game 3, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel reminisced on his days with the Indiana Pacers when LeBron James’ Miami Heat used to whip them in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

"“When I competed against the Miami Heat and either [Dwyane] Wade or [Chris] Bosh were out, (that meant) more touches for ‘Bron,” said Vogel. “That wasn’t necessarily a good thing for my Pacers teams. So it’s just gonna be more opportunity for ‘Bron and obviously, we need more guys to step up.”"

Folks, that was back in 2013 and 2014. Let’s fast forward to reality and the here and now.

LeBron James needs to average 40 points or more to finish out this series… 

This article was written on May 31st, 2021. The two examples of LeBron’s required production happened on the same day over a decade apart.

May 31st, 2007. 

Way back before LeBron James became just “LeBron”, the Cleveland Cavaliers were considered a road bump against the heavily favored Detroit Pistons. Like in this series, he had not played to his normal standards. Then the last six minutes and overtime of Game 5, LeBron became the best player in the world…period.

LeBron James scored 25 straight points and 29 of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ last 30 points to outlast the Pistons in a double-overtime win. The only other player that scored was Drew Gooden with a free throw. He shot 11-of-13 shooting and hit the game-winner in a 109-107 double-overtime marathon.

LeBron James ended that night with 48 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.

May 31st, 2018.

Okay, this is when the J.R. Smith “incident” happened in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals. LeBron James was just as dominant, but he could not overcome the odds as he did back in 2007. Who cares. This is what the Lakers need.

LeBron James handed out business cards and had Zoom meetings with the entire Golden State franchise scoring 51 points. The difference in this game from years back is not waiting until the last six minutes of the game to explode. The Warriors were smoked like a pack of Kools from the opening tip.

To the LeBron fans that believe this is too much for their hero to handle…enjoy the rest of the playoffs because the Lakers will lose. Do you want the Lakers to advance or not?

One more thing LeBron James needs to do:

Find an opportunity to commit a flagrant foul on Jae Crowder!

Yes, Lake Show Life said it. LeBron James has to go back to the dark side as he did with the Miami Heat. Lay the wood to Crowder and put him on the floor. Phoenix (Especially Chris Paul!) will be in shock and they will mentally be taken out of their comfort zone. Now, this is not about turning James into this era’s version of the Bad Boys or the 90’s Knicks. It’s about sending a message of retaliation. Flexing muscles is nice but “Flexing” is something different.

• Remember when Chris Paul grabbed his arm in Game 1 that messed up his shoulder?
• Remember Jae Crowder grabbing his shoulders going to the basket in Game 4 and barking about it afterward? 

Trust the Lake Show Life Lessons staff, if LeBron James comes out aggressive and angry, the Suns will cower to the anger of LeBron James.

Lake Show Life has a complete checklist for the Los Angeles Lakers to win this series, but if LeBron James doesn’t have scoring nights for the rest of the series. The rest of this article does not matter.

But what if he does? We’ve seen that one play (Sorry J.R.!) can render LeBron’s exploits null and void. Everything has to line up next to perfect. Read on to see what else the Lakers have to do!