LAKERS -at- CLIPPERS – 4-5-23 - DIY Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Didn’t watch the game yet. Post your thoughts and recaps here.

[PenG_]

No PG, no problem. 11 straight Ls

[tox]

Scheduled loss

[Bron2AD]

Got hammed

[PLATNUM]

Eff around and find out.

The team was destined for a loss after not putting away the Jazz the night before. Should have rested the vets in the 4th, instead they let it go into OT and they had to fight for their lives to come out with the W.

Tonight was a big game.... but This team doesn't have the heart, grit or fire to step up to the challenge. They pretty much all shrunk when it mattered. The score and inflated stats at the end of the game mean jack shtt.
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"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[kfkilla]

Ok losing to the clippers in this one hurt. Come to think of it it’s really starting to get to me now. I know it was a hard one with the OT last night and everything. I get it. I just hate the freaking Clippers and how fired up and seemingly perfect they play when they play us. Powell and Hyland killed us and we had zero answers. Very very annoying. F the Clippers!

[justsomelakerfan]

I’m actually not bothered by this. Scheduled loss, especially after last night.
More of the offense should have been run through DLO and Reaves instead of Bron that first half.

Bron was SO BAD that first half that it tanked momentum of the game. Box score doesn’t reflect how not good he was. He should have been sat towards the end of the first half and LA would have really had a fighting chance. Best Lakers tonight were probably DLO, Troy, and AR in an interchangeable order
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Austin Reaves
Tweeter: @sarah_dotbiz

[Startrout]

As expected at the end of a road trip and a back to back we looked tired, slow and unfocused. Effort was lacking to say the least, except for a couple short spurts here and there. LeBron looked terrible most of the game and was chucking 3’s like crazy. We brought Reeves and AD back too late in the 4th to have a chance. The Clippers size bothers us (a lot). So we have to be at the top of our game to have a chance. We didn’t have it tonight. Hard to watch!

[slavavov]

I'm glad the Lakers tried to win and take this game seriously, but we were up against it.

As others said, they made things hard on themselves by barely beating Utah last night, and now our last two games are must-win games. We can still finish sixth if we win both and GSW loses another game, but all the close losses this season have come back to haunt us.

That's why we need to have a sense of urgency from day one of the season and not simply try to make the play-in tournament or get a low playoff seed, then "turn it on" when the playoffs start. That's what they thought they could do last season.
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Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers

[mad55557777]

Clippers basically attacked AR, I think Lue has always done that. AR is not a bad defender, but he has trouble guarding quick guys. The First half by lebron was worse than we actually load managed him. Not too worried about the loss though

[Nobody]

Too bad for the loss. I was feeling really optimistic a couple times, especially with those great unanswered runs, but I guess the guys were simply too fatigued. Especially LeBron,w who was, in my opinion, one of the main reasons for the early deficits (all the ball-fumbling and turnovers really bit us). On to the next one.

[RI Laker]

Keeping it real, the Clippers are just to deep on the offensive side of the ball. We need to exploit our big edge at the 5 to have a chance. We lost it this game.

[LakerSD]

[Halflife]

[yinoma2001]

This was literally a scheduled loss. 3 games in 4 nights.

But I still expected and wanted a win.

Clips just have our number, nothing else to say. Their athletic wings and 2 7 footers killed us.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[LakerSD]

[joeblow]

Yeah, I'm not as gracious as others by simply accepting we were due a loss in this game because of "reasons". At minimum, whatever factors are at play when a team hits the court, you are still in control of doing the best you can with what you have. The Lakers didn't fully do that last night.

The Clippers did the best they could with what they had. I can't diminish what their coach and players brought to the game in tactics, effort and execution. They still could've won even if we did a better job doing the same. Here are my issues with what happened:

~~~~~

- If Bamba was activated, why wasn't he on the floor to draw Zubac's coverage when we had the ball, which frees up AD and Lebron to then abuse their smaller defenders?

- In general, it's clear Ham embraces the three-guard lineups so much because of what he hopes we gain from it offensively, but it often kills us defensively which is where we need the most help. In the third he mostly stuck with two guards, two forwards and AD at center, and guess what? We held the Clips to 22 points while still scoring over 30 ourselves.

- Whatever lineup we have out there, Ham has to more quickly recognize the area of weakness our opponents are consistently attacking and make adjustments. Early in the fourth quarter, Bones targeted Dennis over and over by simply shooting over him and he put up a TON of points doing so. Dennis is tiny so no surprise there, but where is Ham with the adjustments? The same is true with how Austin was getting blitzed a lot by Powell earlier on.

- Lastly, if there were an award given out for the emptiest of stat lines after a game, LeBron would've taken home the trophy two games in a row. Yes, his numbers look good on paper, but anyone watching the game knows how much he hurt the team. His game in the first half was ATROCIOUS. Unforced turnovers, unsuccessfully shooting too many long distance shots (including just inside the thre point line), an almost complete lack of interest in playing defense... I literally joked out loud that he must've had some money on the game for the Clippers to win. His second half was a decent turn around, especially in defensive effort and FINALLY attacking the basket, but the worthless threes he made at the end when the game was already decided didn't impress.

~~~~~

All of these problems could've been addressed for a better Laker showing, and hopefully we see that in the last two games and beyond.

[TDRock]

Disappointment

[mad55557777]

it was clear they were shellshocked in the first quarter, especially by the 3s of Westbook, and to their credit, they did fight back.
AD looked tired, Lebron looked tired in the first half. AR looks very tired.

the good takeaway for me is that Lebron is getting healthier, he was great in the 2nd half, and this is the Lebron we will need in the playoffs.

i will be happy for the 7th seed, so i hope they can win Friday against PHX.

[Dr. Laker]

Scheduled loss. I'd have preferred DNPs for AD & Bron after the OT.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Halflife]

[Hammett]

I tip my hat to AD, DLO, and LBJ for playing through pain. But now we see the consequences of letting a trash team make a 4th quarter comeback and take us to OT.
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Lakers. Built different.

[cheesehead88]

Hit the nail right on the head.
With Bamba at 5 and AD at 4 Lakers would have been the bigger badder bullies. If anything just to keep AD away from foul trouble going into the third

With AD at Center he was destroyed by Zubac crashing the boards from weak side and in low post on switches.

If anything you use Max Christie or Vando short stretches to guard Powell or Bones.

Shut off the water.

DLO and Reaves the most skilled offensive backcourt in the league. But on D very similar to the Dame Lillard CJ McCollum backcourt. They don’t provide any real resistance at POA and their back pressure not as good as Danny Green or Caruso.

They start doing pick and roll or isos with a quick guard. Need to put Vando or Christie in to shut it off

Don’t stick with the 3 guard lineup “hoping” the threes or Austin Reaves midrange / foul baiting starts to work

This team only works if the D is 2020 quality shut down defense

Bamba and Christie would help

Jay Huff or Whiteside would have helped too

[A Mad Chinaman]

[A Mad Chinaman]