State Of The Lakers In The Bubble

Game 5

The Lakers came in on the 2nd half of

back to back games short handed with

Lebron James, Javale McGee and Alex

Caruso sitting out to rest injuries. Even

though the Rockets were without their

other superstar Russell Westbrook who

was sitting out this game they were able

to torch the Lakers with a monster

performance from James Harden and a

barrage of 3 pointers that kept the Lakers

trailing majority of the game. The Rockets

would cruise to an easy 114-97 victory

over The Lakers.

The 1st quarter Anthony Davis got going

early scoring 11 points and grabbed 4

Offensive rebounds 5 in total leading the

way for the Lakers who played probably

their worst defense of the season.

The Rockets drained seven 3 pointers in

the opening quarter with Harden and Jeff

Green combining for five 3 point makes.

This would boost them to a 33-26 1st

quarter lead and they would not look

back.

The Rockets would continue to pile on the

points. The game would go back and forth

for a bit a in the 2nd quarter but Harden

continued to be a problem scoring 15

points and Ben McLemore would add

points of his own. The Lakers would

get some scoring from Danny Green

and Kyle Kuzma who combined to score

18 points to keep the game in single digits

going into Halftime with the Rockets

leading 65-58.

The 2nd would continue stay in the

Rockets favor they just kept making the

right plays and hitting the open shot. The

Lakers just became overwhelmed at

points. The bright spot was Kuzma who

add 9 more points to his total and would

the game as the lead ring scorer with 21

points. The Rockets would win another

quarter and increase their lead to 94-79

going into the final period.

The Lakers were able to put together a

10-0 run to start the quarter and get

within 5 points before a Rockets timeout.

The Rockets would come right back with a

10-0 run of their own and that pretty

much ended the game. Davis finished up

with only 19 points for the night on 29

minutes played.

The Lakers would drop 3rd out of their last

4 games and now are 2-3 in the bubble.

While the Rockets improved 3-1 in the

bubble and gained some ground on one of

the top 4 seeds in the West.

My 2 Cents

The Lakers just never got Ina groove they

had to play catch up all night. Lebron

missing the game was a bit of a factor but

not the reason the Lakers lost again. The

defensive effort is not what it was during

the regular season. I feel like the Lakers

are taking to many plays off with the idea

the Offense will minimize the damage but

that option has been vacant with the

Lakers only reaching over 100 points twice

since the restart. This is a good way to

motivate a team that has been great all

year.

The shooting woes of the Lakers has

became evident. The shot selection is

poor. Lakers are settling for way too many

3 point shots and it just isn’t there. Most

of the shots are uncontested that’s what

really irks spectators. The shots will

eventually start falling once the Lakers

start moving the ball better and getting

the proper spacing.

My advice to Laker Nation don’t sweat too

hard the squad has did their job. Yes! You

want them to keep a good rhythm but the

playoffs are a different beast and you’d

rather get the kinks out now and not when

the 1st round begins. This team

communication is lacking a bit but with

more practice and familiarity the

adjustment will be made.

The Lakers have 3 games left until the

playoffs. I expect them to play better after

these 2 throwaway performances. The

Lakers face the Indiana Pacers in a early

evening game. Lebron will be a go for this

1 against an old nemesis from his days in

the Eastern conference should be a great

matchup.

Written By:Pop Dibiase

Twitter:@PopDibiase

IG:@dibiasewave_