Lakers organization looks really fraudulent after Cavaliers loss

Lakers Nation is now caught up in the glass half empty…glass half full scenario these days coming into the Los Angeles Lakers’ important matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The glass was full seven days ago when the Lakers collected their first win by shocking the Denver Nuggets. Then Matt Ryan cemented his place in the Lakers season documentary video at the end of the season with the latest version of “The Shot” against the New Orleans Pelicans…

But on Friday, the Lakers’ defense brought concern back to the coaching staff and the players and the fanbase back to Earth with a 130-116 loss to the Utah Jazz. The Lakers could not afford to bring that effort to the matinee against Donovan Mitchell, who averaged 31 points per game. Let’s just say the defense did not stop him.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-100 to fall to 2-7 with a rematch against the Jazz on Monday.

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

No Patrick Beverley!

Like he would have mattered….

Russell Westbrook has lost his mind!

Now, what does that mean?

• He stopped thinking about the criticism from the last season and offseason.
• He stopped worrying about the trade rumors.
• He stopped worrying about the media.
• He made a conscious decision to play ball his way with energy and take advantage of the opposing team’s second unit.
• He got his rhythm back and now the MVP chants are back! 

After taking that awful ten-footer against Portland, Russ has arguably been the most consistent two-way Laker on the roster pushing the pace and wreaking havoc on the court. Now this “Let Russ be Russ” narrative is all the rage…

The readers are starting to notice the hypocrisy too it seems…

Bossman:

Ron, we all know if Russ was playing like Beverly the noise would be unbearable. But what do we hear now… crickets. 74 games to go… The Lakers will be fine.

Slick: 

I haven’t noticed many Beverley doesn’t fit next to LeBron articles floating around either….yet.

In 16 minutes in the first half, Everyone Let Russ be Russ for 14 points (5-7 shooting, 2-3 from behind the arc!), 5 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. He finished with 19 points and 10 assists. He showed that he can run an offensive set and that LeBron is not the only option running the offense.

Anthony Davis had yet another dominant first half with energy!

AD is probably the best first-half scorer in the NBA. But his 17 points did not tell the story in the first half. He put Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on the bench with foul trouble with no contributions. What did he do in the second half? More on that later!!

The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

Donovan Mitchell had a master class on how to play the game of basketball!

In one of the Lakers’ earlier matchups on Sunday against Portland, the staff of Lake Show Life had to give credit to the brilliance of Damian Lillard’s play. Was it good for the Lakers’ chances of winning? No. But if you are a fan of the game, it was beautiful to watch.

In this game, it was Donovan Mitchell’s turn. When the Lakers got off to a lightning-fast start, Mitchell didn’t panic and got to the free throw line…a lot!

In the first half, the Cavs superstar had 21 points on the strength on 9-9 from the line. He finished with 33 points and 5 rebounds. It was his game and he was the only superstar to show up. LeBron coasted…AD disappeared and the Lakers franchise won’t let Russ have the status.

Mitchell’s free throw mastery started a trend to get Cleveland back in the game…because…

The Los Angeles Lakers sponsored a parade for the Cavs at the free-throw line!

The Lakers would have won the game in the first half if it wasn’t for the fouling and allowing the Cavs to shoot free throws. Not only did it get Donovan Mitchell going, it got Darius Garland untracked as well. He matched his backcourt mate with 21 points in the first half. All told Cleveland hit 21-23 free throws in the first 24 minutes. Overall the Cavs finished shooting 32-36.

The third quarter…

Cavs outscored the Lakers 29-16. If not for Russ, this would have been worse.

3 point shooting and free throw shooting…

Man…please!

The refereeing influence on this game!

Normally this website doesn’t call out referees, but this warrants a mention. The refs were very inconsistent with their calls. The “Take” fouls, the inconsistent foul calls and the awful double foul call on Jarrett Allen and Anthony Davis. That call got AD in foul trouble and the Lakers never recovered. The technical foul on Dennis Schroder was ridiculous! Did the refs cost the Lakers? No. But they have to call games better than what was displayed.

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

This franchise is looking really fraudulent right now!

Let’s see here (Checking notes!) Russell Westbrook is improving, but the Los Angeles Lakers are starting to stink again. Take away the Pelicans’ win (New Orleans gave that one away!) and the Lakers have one legitimate victory on the season. So what’s the problem?

• Kendrick Nunn scored the same amount of points that anyone that found time to read this…
• Austin Reaves overtook Kendrick Nunn’s total and anyone that found time to read this with a free throw…
• Anthony Davis has a habit of disappearing like a Las Vegas magic act in the second half…
• LeBron is back to empty stats that don’t matter while bricking 3-pointers and free throws… 

But this is Russ though…

Where’s the criticism of the rest of the team particularly the stars? Pat Bev? Austin Reaves?

Outside of that debacle game against Portland a few weeks ago, this guy has put in work. He actually deserves his starting job back based on what the other guards are doing. The question now is…have the Lakers spearheaded by Kurt Rambis and Frank Vogel been setting Russ up to fail as far back as last season to save face?

Think about it!!!!

3 Lakers (not named Russell Westbrook) that could be traded this season

Most of the Lakers trade talks have been about Russell Westbrook but there are other players on the roster that could be moved.