LeBron James has only missed the playoffs in his first two seasons of his career back in Cleveland. Last postseason, James and the Cavaliers battled with the Pacers to seven games in the first round and the Kyrie-less Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals to seven games. In the NBA Finals, the Cavs got swept by the Warriors but put up a fight.
The Los Angeles Lakers are the 10th seed in the western conference and are slowly slipping out of the playoffs. They are fighting for the last playoff spot with the Clippers at the eighth seed and the Kings are the ninth seed. Los Angeles is 4-6 in their last ten games and they must climb out of this hole in order to make the playoffs.
The Lakers signed LeBron James to revive the franchise but he can’t do it by himself. The Lakers were interested in Paul George this past summer but he resigned with the Thunder. LeBron went down with a groin injury on Christmas day and ended up missing 17 games. Los Angeles went 6-11 during that stretch and haven’t been able to rise up in the standings since then. They tried to acquire Anthony Davis before the trade deadline and the Pelicans wouldn’t budge. The Lakers practically offered everyone on the team except LeBron. The trade deadline has passed and Lakers have to stick with the team currently constructed.
Players have been in and out of the lineup. Lonzo Ball has missed several games due to an ankle injury since January 19th. Rajon Rondo has missed a couple stretches because of injury. Josh Hart returned in the last game against the Pelicans but only played 10 minutes.
The Lakers don’t have an easy schedule to wrap up the season. The Lakers will face top-tier teams like the Thunder, Raptors, Nuggets, and Warriors.
LeBron is in the deep western conference and is teamed with veterans like Rajon Rondo who’s won a championship with the Big 3 Celtics. Lance Stephenson has had some playoff runs with Indiana and JaVale McGee won a couple rings with the juggernaut of the Golden State Warriors.
Three Areas the Lakers Must Focus on:
1. Defense
Primarily the Lakers need to focus on defense. Los Angeles ranks 23rd in the league in points allowed per game averaging 113.6. They have to lock in defensively for an entire game instead of for stretches. When Lonzo returns and Josh Hart is back to playing 25 minutes a night they’ll boost their defense in the backcourt.
2. Limiting Turnovers
Secondly, the Lakers are second to last in the league in taking care of the ball averaging 15.9 turnovers a night. They like to be fancy with the ball and sometimes too passive as if they’re the Showtime Lakers. Committing turnovers is costly and the opposing team can go on a run in an instant.
3. Free Throws
Lastly, Los Angeles is dead last in free throw percentage shooting 68.8%. For the season, the Lakers are scoring 112.4 points per game and their opponents outscore them by 1.2. Rondo and Lonzo are both shooting under 60% from the line. Sometimes games are decided by free throws and the Lakers could put themselves in a better position to win games by nailing shots from the line.
If the Lakers could focus on these areas, then they shouldn’t have an issue getting in the playoffs.
The Lakers will be home facing the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at 10:30 PM ET on ESPN.
Photo credits (The West Australian, Lake Show Life)