Well, bring on the regular season for the Los Angeles Lakers because they can go nowhere but up. The preseason brought losses, fan debates on how important the preseason really is to a NBA team and injuries to players on the roster.
The Los Angeles Lakers, at times during the preseason, looked disinterested like they were looking at the calendar for October 19th with their turnovers and defensive breakdowns.
- Los Angeles Lakers open the preseason with a loss to the Brooklyn Nets
- Los Angeles Lakers suffer another blowout against Phoenix Suns
- Los Angeles Lakers stay winless in preseason with loss to Warriors
- Los Angeles Lakers get blown out by the Phoenix Suns (Again!)
- Los Angeles Lakers lose to the Golden State Warriors (Again!)
Now they can stop looking after losing their sixth and final preseason game to the Sacramento Kings 116-112. Next up…the Golden State Warriors.
The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
Luke Walton is no longer the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers!
Sometimes Lake Show Life gets on Frank Vogel for his rotations and in-game adjustments (Oh and we still do!) but when things get too far, we reminisce on the days when Luke Walton was the head coach of this storied franchise. His starting lineup for this game made no type of sense in matchups to the Lakers.
- DeAaron Fox
- Ty Haliburton
- Harrison Barnes
- Moe Harkless
- Richaun Holmes
God bless Richaun Holmes, but this lineup is what Shaquille O’Neal calls “Barbecue Chicken” compared to the Lakers big lineup featuring Anthony Davis playing power forward and DeAndre Jordan playing center. Even though the Kings lineup was a matchup disaster, Walton strolled out the lineup again and the Lakers feasted on it.
Let the staff of Lake Show Life give the fans some advice…
Be thankful for Frank Vogel because things could be worse.
LeBron James started the regular season early for the Lakers!
LeBron basically ran roughshod through the Sacramento Kings in the first half. He scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting. He didn’t settle for fadeaway jumpers or long-distance side step 3 points shots. He just put his head down and handled his business.
King coming through. pic.twitter.com/EOmRp8tWuY
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 15, 2021
However, LeBron got banged up a little in the third quarter but kept playing. He finished with 30 points (12-20 shooting!) 6 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Russell Westbrook took his shooting problems inside!
It’s no secret that Russell Westbrook has been terrible in the preseason. But thanks to Luke Walton’s lineup, it open up lanes for Westbrook to beat up DeAaron Fox up inside.
Aggressive from the opening tip.@russwest44 x #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/5cnPGcC54D
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 15, 2021
Here’s what is exciting about this play to Los Angeles Lakers fans!
- One, the Lakers came out early setting up a play for Russ knowing that there was a mismatch.
- Two, Russ was aggressive taking the ball to the rim taking advantage of the mismatch.
- Three, he realizes that his jump shot is off and didn’t bail the Kings out by firing up a mid-range shot.
Basketball is about rhythm and confidence. The Lakers realize that their newest point guard was struggling and made it a point that they got him untracked. Three layups early with a great pass to Jordan for a dunk shows a glimpse of what Lakers Nation will see in the regular season.
He finished with 18 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. He kept down the turnovers with only three.
Melo helped the Los Angeles Lakers went crazy in the second quarter!
The Lakers used a couple of Carmelo Anthony 3 point shots to spark a 19-4 run to make things close around halftime. Anthony followed up his five 3 point performance in the previous game with 10 more points in his first 13 minutes. Melo is turning into a point a minute player coming off the bench and with the injuries to Wayne Ellington, Talen Horton-Tucker and Trevor Ariza, the Lakers will need him big time next week. He finished with 15 points on 5-8 shooting.
The run was very important at this juncture of the game. Why?
The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
Man these extended runs the Lakers give up needs to stop!
Based on what was read above, most fans would have thought the Los Angeles Lakers had blown out the Sacramento Kings from the tip. However, Sacramento went on a 24-6 run over the last six minutes of the first quarter to fall behind 35-23.
Dwight Howard.
Four fouls in his first six minutes including a flagrant foul. This is all in the second quarter. Think about how the Lakers would have fared during the aforementioned run without Howard doing all of this. He had a great block on Harrison Barnes and a filthy dunk, but it’s getting to the point that this franchise might not know what Dwight Howard they’ll get from night to night.
If he calms down, this is the center that helped the Lakers win the NBA title. If he doesn’t, this is the center that was passed around the NBA like a hot potato and found himself begging Rob Pelinka for a unguaranteed contract.
If the phrase “The Lakers turn the ball over too much was on YouTube”…
Bang, Bang Play by @hbarnes @rich_holmes22 @buddyhield ‼️ pic.twitter.com/rGOmuDQRto
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 15, 2021
Cue the excuse, the Lakers will be fine when the stars get more time together.
The Lake Show finished with 15.
The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
The “Big 3” made it through the preseason unscathed.
Nuff said. The regular season starts Tuesday with the stars at 100 percent.
The Lakers finish the preseason winless at 0-6. The games start for real on Tuesday.