The Lakers Blow a 17-point Fourth Quarter Lead, Suffer Crushing 116-115 Loss to Pacers
11/29/22 • 40 min
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Through three quarters, the Lakers were on track for their best, most impressive win of the season. The kind of game that would validate winning five of six against lesser competition. Instead, they let Indiana back in, losing a 17-point lead over the final 10 minutes, losing to the Pacers on a last-second 3-pointer from rookie Andrew Nembhard.
Nothing went well for the Lakers down the stretch. The defense broke down, as Indiana came up with multiple offensive rebounds (including the most critical one, on the game's final sequence). LeBron James was 2-8 from the floor. The Lakers couldn't figure out a way to shake Anthony Davis loose from an aggressive Pacers defense. And LA's defense fell apart on that last play, with multiple miscues including one from James.
Really, though, it never should have reached that point. The Lakers have little experience closing teams out (and with only one win against a team over .500, no real experience closing out good teams) and it showed.
But beyond the disappointment, this is a killer loss for a team trying desperately to climb out of an early season hole and about to head out on the road basically for the month of December. 8-11 looks a lot better than 7-12.
Oh, and LeBron tweaked his ankle in the first half. He played, but it remains to be seen what happens once his body cools down.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers blew a massive fourth quarter lead and suffered an inexcusable loss.
SEGMENT 2: The game's final play was a microcosm of the game's final quarter for the Lakers.
SEGMENT 3: LeBron is banged up, again. Did the Lakers properly plan for this?
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Through three quarters, the Lakers were on track for their best, most impressive win of the season. The kind of game that would validate winning five of six against lesser competition. Instead, they let Indiana back in, losing a 17-point lead over the final 10 minutes, losing to the Pacers on a last-second 3-pointer from rookie Andrew Nembhard.
Nothing went well for the Lakers down the stretch. The defense broke down, as Indiana came up with multiple offensive rebounds (including the most critical one, on the game's final sequence). LeBron James was 2-8 from the floor. The Lakers couldn't figure out a way to shake Anthony Davis loose from an aggressive Pacers defense. And LA's defense fell apart on that last play, with multiple miscues including one from James.
Really, though, it never should have reached that point. The Lakers have little experience closing teams out (and with only one win against a team over .500, no real experience closing out good teams) and it showed.
But beyond the disappointment, this is a killer loss for a team trying desperately to climb out of an early season hole and about to head out on the road basically for the month of December. 8-11 looks a lot better than 7-12.
Oh, and LeBron tweaked his ankle in the first half. He played, but it remains to be seen what happens once his body cools down.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers blew a massive fourth quarter lead and suffered an inexcusable loss.
SEGMENT 2: The game's final play was a microcosm of the game's final quarter for the Lakers.
SEGMENT 3: LeBron is banged up, again. Did the Lakers properly plan for this?
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Built Bar
Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.
BetOnline
BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!
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First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDON
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Previous Episode
The Lakers Have Won Five of Six, Face (and Scout?) Myles Turner, Buddy Hield Monday Night
The Lakers were once 2-10. Today, after winning five of six, they'll enter Monday's game against Indiana (one of only six home games between now and early January) with a 7-11 record. Still not good, but trending in the right direction. And most of that progress has happened without a full roster available to them. So now that Anthony Davis and LeBron James are both expected to play against the Pacers, can the Lakers continue their momentum?
How much of that upturn was legitimate, anyway, and not a product of a (finally) softening schedule? We'll all find out soon enough, but at the least, the Lakers were due to some positive move to the mean. They weren't, for example, going to shoot 20 percent from 3-point range all year. Over their last 10? About 35 percent. Not great, but not catastrophically damaging to the offense, either. The Lakers were always better than a team paced to win 12 games all year.
Good enough to finish over .500? Top eight? Top 10? We'll see. But not 12-wins bad.
Hopefully the momentum LeBron found in the second half Sunday carries through, because apparently someone on San Antonio poked the bear, and the bear won. The Lakers controlled the stretch run of Saturday's win, in large part because of the dominance - extremely efficient dominance - of James.
The Lakers need that, with an elite Davis, to carry them going forward.
And not for nothing, this Indiana game carries some real intrigue. If Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, both a target of many Lakers fans affections, if not the Lakers front office, go off and the Pacers win? Wow, are people going to come down on GM Rob Pelinka.
Either way, it's going to be very interesting!
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers have won five of six. What has changed relative to earlier this year?
SEGMENT 2: LeBron bounced back in a big way in the second half of Saturday's win, and also may have provided another galvanizing team moment, as well.
SEGMENT 3: The schedule gets really hard again, starting... now.
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Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.
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BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!
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Next Episode
Do the Lakers Have a LeBron James Problem? (Spoiler Alert: Yes, They Kinda Do)
For much of the early season, there was an intense focus on the performance of Anthony Davis, and how it wasn't bad, exactly, but was definitely disappointing and not nearly at the level the Lakers need to be successful this season. But over the last seven or so games, that has definitely changed. Meanwhile, LeBron James hasn't just struggled with his health, dealing with a series of maladies (including an ankle issue that could keep him out of tonight's game against Portland).
He's been pretty ordinary on the court, as well. At least by his standards, and the standard to which the Lakers will need. The effect has been particularly noticeable on offense, where LeBron's rating trails his other name brand teammates (Davis, Russell Westbrook). He's been particularly disappointing in fourth quarters, exemplified by Monday's 2-8 showing.
So what do the Lakers do about it? Can they get him going, assuming James can stay on the court long enough to find a rhythm? What can LeBron do, and how hard is it to make those adjustments after 20 years of basically uninterrupted dominance?
The James problem is at least tangentially related to the Westbrook problem. Because while Russ has certainly found a niche as a sixth man, it's still pretty clear he and LeBron are a really bad combination. It was the case last year, and judging by the two-person net rating for this season, it hasn't gotten any better. So when Darvin Ham plays him in the fourth - which happened Monday, a night where Ham was criticized more vocally for his rotation choices than he typically has been this year - sometimes bad stuff happens. (Westbrook's Q4 net rating is a disaster, FWIW...)
And finally, Monday's loss puts a serious premium on tonight's game against Portland, because the Lakers are in real danger of giving back most of the gains from their five-wins-in-six-games burst of competence.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers blew a huge game Monday, and have turned Wednesday into about as must a must-win as you can have in November.
SEGMENT 2: LeBron James has not played to his standard. What can he/the Lakers do about it?
SEGMENT 3: The Lakers still have a Russell Westbrook Problem.
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Built Bar
Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.
BetOnline
BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!
LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNBA
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First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDON
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