Lakers shock Warriors as LeBron James sits… yet again

The Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in one of the most strange eras of their history. At this point in the season, it has become a half-empty, half-full scenario over the last week.

Half-full:

• LeBron James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time scoring leader.
• Russell Westbrook gets traded the day after the game and the day before the trade deadline. After his antics in the loss to OKC, a can of Alpo dog food would have sufficed just as long as it fell under salary cap rules.
• Rob Pelinka basically overhauled half of the Lakers roster without giving up both of their coveted 2027 and 2029 first-round picks (2027 first-round with protected provisions went to Utah).
• The Lakers have officially stopped making these post-game reports a waste of time with a team that was figured out two months ago. 

Half empty:

• The Los Angeles Lakers embarrassed LeBron James, the NBA, and their franchise legacy not only by losing to the Thunder on LeBron’s record-breaking night but how they did it. 
• Anthony Davis has gone into a funk not seen since he rocked that “That’s All Folks” t-shirt on the way out of New Orleans.
• The Lakers are basically last in the Western Conference at 13th with the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets ping pong balls already in the box for June.
• Anyone wondering if LeBron James is going to join the party for this playoff chase?

The Los Angeles Lakers came away with a much-needed 109-103 win over Golden State on the road. This was a team win and let’s be honest, a four-game losing streak would have been disastrous.

For now, the glass is half full.

The good of the Los Angeles Lakers win: 

Lakers fans…you are going to love Jerred Vanderbilt!

FINALLY…FINALLY! The Lakers have a player that will be a star in his role on the defensive end. Jarred Vanderbilt played the best of the newcomers with his hustle and energy all over the floor. This guy does not stop moving and knows how to cut to the basket as opposed to standing out at the 3-point line waiting for shots.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1624610789633187840

Vanderbilt finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, but that is not what is going to excite Lakers fans. He will continue to play hard and do the dirty work even if he is not getting shots when LeBron returns. The Warriors really were caught off guard by his play. This player will Rob Pelinka look good. Speaking of Austin Reaves…

He knew where he was…

https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1624604847944216576

Man, Austin got clocked big time by a Jonathan Kuminga elbow under his left eye. He will have a black eye tomorrow. He stayed in long enough to knock down shots and make plays when the Lakers needed it.

Reaves finished with 8 points and 2 rebounds. No concussion is a very good thing.

Anyone notice that Dennis Schroder scores the ball well when one of the superstars is not in the lineup?

This is starting to be a serious conundrum for the Los Angeles Lakers going forward. See, for the Lake Show to have a chance to make the postseason, AD and LeBron need to be in the lineup and producing big numbers. However, when this happens, Dennis disappears for a few games.

For the second time this week, Dennis looked like an all-star scoring in the first half. He was dominant and spearheaded the offense.

He finished with 26 points on a very efficient 7-12 shooting. Can this happen with LeBron in the lineup, please?

Lakers bench…

34 points and they held the fort when the Warriors made their run. Schroder was the catalyst but the bench was the fuel to keep the engine running.

Man…Klay Thompson was terrible!

As a fan of shooters, it was sad for this writer to see Klay Thompson struggle. He was aiming the ball all night long to the tune of 5-21 shooting. The Warriors kept feeding him and Klay kept throwing up bricks bailing out the Lakers defense.

The bad of the Los Angeles Lakers win: 

What is Anthony Davis’ problem?

Should AD be on the All-Star team? Maybe. Was he disrespecting LeBron James when he was sitting down at the big moment? No. Was his explanation of being frustrated by the Lakers losing to the OKC Thunder good? PFFT! Please…the Lakers were down about five points in the third quarter when LeBron broke the record. Sorry AD, try again. But that doesn’t matter.

Here’s what matters…

For the second time in three games, AD has looked listless and disengaged. Saturday night was especially bad. He came through with some important defensive plays at the rim but offensively?

He finished with 13 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks.

To sensitive Lakers fans out there, good luck defending AD. Call the staff of Lake Show Life haters, but if you think this is the future of winning Lakers basketball with your superstar shooting 5-19? Cool, if you can sleep at night.

The story of the Los Angeles Lakers win: 

Where’s LeBron James?

This is not questioning injuries but LeBron missed the last game, missed this one and reportedly will miss the next one. What’s the issue here? The Lakers won this game but the schedule will not get any easier and time is running out. This team needs winning streaks…long ones!

This is a major accomplishment and should be congratulated…

But we haven’t seen the man on the floor since.

Now it’s winning time. See Kareem won an NBA title and Finals MVP for the Lakers at 38 years old. LeBron’s Lakers are sitting in the 13th spot in the conference.

Which one is more important?

The overlooked Lakers move from the deadline that deserves praise

The Los Angeles Lakers are getting a lot of praise for the moves they made at the deadline but are not receiving love for perhaps the most overlooked move.