Second-half woes continue to doom the Lakers’
By Tamara Latta, IT Contributor
For some odd reason, the Lakers play really well in the first two quarters and look how they are supposed to look; then things suddenly fall apart.
It has not been an impressive start for the Los Angeles Lakers. They are losing games specifically in the second half of the game. In fact, in their last 15 games, they have been outscored by at least 83 points.
Not only are fans furious with the Lakers style of play, but Anthony Davis spewed out a lot of words with intense emotions after an embarrassing loss against Minnesota.
“We suck,” Davis replied when asked about third quarter woes. “No defense. Can’t score. That’s not just this third quarter, it’s every third quarter we’ve have played this season. We come out slow, lackadaisical offensively and defensively. We got to get it together. Why? I can’t tell you. But we got to do a better job.”
It appears the Lakers chemistry and body language on the floor is a bit dysfunctional. It’s still too early to raise concerns, though they don’t want to fall behind in a skillful Western Conference.
Meanwhile, losing games early has definitely been a luxury to the purple and gold as they continue to search for answers. It gives them an opportunity to find their identity as a team on offense and defense.
“We’ve got decide who we’re gonna be, said Davis. We’re not gonna win a championship the way we are playing.”
Russell Westbrook will be a huge part of the Lakers accomplishments -so they’ll need him to adjust to the playbook quickly. Russell won’t be the shooter the Lakers are desperately missing; however, he can set the tone on the floor by attacking the rim and playing with aggression on the other side of the ball.
“Our opponent doesn’t really matter. It is more about us, Westbrook said. We’ve got to do a better job of locking in on what we do.”
On the other side of the coin, Davis can add a little razzle dazzle on defense. Believe it or not, the Lakers were the best defensive team in the league last year, respectively. But unfortunately- trading Alex Caruso and Kenravious Caldwell-Pope has caused physical pain on Frank Vogel’s defensive scheme. The Lakers are allowing 110 points per game.
The enjoyable news is, the Lakers are patiently waiting for injured players to heal, so we still don’t know what this team is capable of doing. The 37-year-old captain of the ship Lebron James- has missed the last two weeks with an abdominal strain but is nearing a return soon. James impact was felt on the floor before going down as he averaged 24.8 points. 5.5 rebounds and seven assists per game.
Nonetheless, the Lakers have too many veterans to not figure out how to be victorious this year but only time will tell if their experience will lead them to success or failure.
