Over the course of the last month or so, I think we can all agree that the Lakers haven’t looked like their normal selves. Anthony Davis was in and out of the lineup for a while until ultimately injuring his calf against the Denver Nuggets on February 14th, 2021 putting him on the bench for about 4-6 weeks and Guard Dennis Schroder has been out because of COVID-19 protocols. We don’t know the exact date either one will return but we do know that Dennis is more likely to return before AD.
After closely watching the last 10 games for the Lakers, it’s safe to say that we are in a pretty big slump offensively. The ball just hasn’t been going in the basket with and without AD and Dennis on the floor. It also doesn’t help that every team they’ve played recently, does not miss. Last night in their loss to Utah, Utah hit 22 3’s compared to our 8. Now obviously Utah has been one of the hottest, if not, the hottest team in the league, but COME ON it’s felt like every team has shot like this.
This season, the Lakers rank 18th in PPG, 25th in 3PM, 21st in 3P%, and 24th in FT%. Along with those numbers, they’ve gone to OT against the Pistons (15th in the Eastern Conference), OKC back-to-back (12th in the Western Conference), and the Wizards (13th in the Eastern Conference) which resulted in a loss after being up by 17 in the 3Q. Those don’t really look like championship contender type numbers but it’s what all of us Lakers fans have had to deal with recently along with a four game losing streak.
A lot of the blame can go towards AD being in and out of the lineup and then ultimately being out for good along with Dennis, but since when do die hard Lakers fans watch their contending teams go in a slump like this and say “meh, whatever.” The easy answer would be “well, come playoff time they’ll be alright” which I’m sure is true, but that’s so far from now. Yes, we’re the defending champions, we have LeBron James, and every team wants to give us their best shot, but every season is different, a lot can happen between now and the start of the NBA playoffs and they still have a whole second half of the season left to play.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how and when the Lakers go back to the form we’ve got used to seeing them at. With their next 4 games before the All-Star break being against Portland, Golden State, Phoenix, and Sacramento it would be nice to end the first half of the season on a great note. Once we get Dennis back I can see these games getting better and then of course, once we get AD back in good form, the Lakers we know and love will be out there ready to defend the title at full strength. In the mean time, I guess they can keep letting these other teams win their regular season championships and let them THINK they have a chance to dethrone the champs.
