The Current Situation of the Lakers is very bad, they have suffered two consecutive losses before the game against the Timberwolves, and have won only one of the last 5 games. Their opponents, the Timberwolves, are in very good form in this game and have already won two straight games, in the last game, Downs just cut a career high of 60+ and led the team to win the game. Therefore, this game is a fierce and unlucky game for the Lakers.
Sure enough, the Lakers' offensive form was very bad in the first quarter of the game, scoring only 17 points in the whole quarter, while the Timberwolves took the opportunity to widen the point difference to 14 points. In the second quarter, the Timberwolves once again played a 20-7 small climax, at one point extending the lead to 20 points, and withstood the Lakers' counterattack at the end of the quarter. Yi Bian fought again, and the Lakers in the third quarter finally found their form, playing a small climax while narrowing the point difference to 9 points in this section of the game. In the final quarter, although the Lakers were not bad on the offensive end, they could not prevent the opponent's offense, and finally lost to the Timberwolves 104:124, suffering three consecutive losses.
The reason why the Lakers finally lost the game in this battle is partly because their whole team is in very bad shape in this game. Among them, James shot only 8 of 21 shots, including only 8 of 8 three-pointers, only scored 19 points, and the record of 20+ points in 32 consecutive games ended. Westbrook and Munch both shot 12 times in this game, and both only hit 5 of them, and their three-point shots combined were only 3 of 13. Although Anthony, who came off the bench, scored 16 points, his three-point shooting was only 1 of 7, and the Lakers' three-point shooting rate was only a terrible 22.2%.
On the other hand, the important reason why the Lakers lost this game is that they once again showed a slow and hot game. In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers were in a very bad state as a team, and although they worked very the defensive end, the team's 28.6% shooting percentage on the offensive end only scored 17 points allowed them to enter the passive early. In the last three quarters of the game, if it is not the first quarter of the state is bad, then the Lakers are still very promising to win the game, especially in the third quarter of the game they played a 31:19 section, once narrowed the point difference to single digits.
Anthony has already expressed his opinion on the team's shortcomings after the game against the Raptors, saying: "If we don't count the first quarter, we won, we have been in this situation many times this season, we can't dig a hole for ourselves at the beginning." James was clearly aware of that, saying after the game: "We got 10 great shooting opportunities at the beginning of the game and we defended desperately. I was okay with our performance in the first quarter, we just couldn't shoot and we just scored 17 points. "All in all, at present, the Lakers' poor offense in the first quarter has become a big problem.
In the Lakers' away challenge to the Western Conference leader Suns, the Lakers dug a huge hole for themselves in the first quarter of the game, and their team's shooting percentage was only 34.8% on the offensive end, scoring only 22 points. Defensively, their poor defense allowed the Suns to score 48 points in the first quarter, trailing by as many as 26 points early. In the next three quarters of the game, the Lakers can be on par with the opponent, but the pit dug in the first quarter of the game made them eventually lose to the opponent by a full 29 points. If the opponent of this battle is the Suns, the first team in the West, and the Lakers' loss is excusable, then the next game against the Raptors is extremely disappointing.
In the Lakers' home game against the Raptors, their performance in the first quarter was even more unacceptable. In the entire first quarter of the game, the Lakers shot 25 times as a team, but only hit 3 of them, including 13-of-0 outside three-pointers, and the team scored only 12 points in this quarter. In addition to the poor performance, the Lakers team is in a completely competitive state, and has not made due efforts to win. Although the Lakers returned to form in the second and fourth quarters, outperforming their opponents by 12 points in the two quarters, they eventually lost the game because they were 21 points behind in the first quarter.
In this game, the Lakers once again made the same mistake, so no matter how hard they tried in the last three quarters of the game, they could not change the outcome of the final loss. The main reason why this situation has occurred repeatedly this season is likely to be that the average age of the Lakers' lineup this season is too big. Affected by age, many of the Lakers' veterans need to spend a certain amount of time after the opening to enter the rhythm of the game. In addition, due to the Lakers' poor record this season, their morale is currently very low, and the lack of concentration on the game is also an important reason for their slow heat.
From this season's so far, the Lakers are arguably one of the most disappointing teams in the league. After spending a lot of money on recruits in the offseason, the Lakers formed a competitive lineup on the book, and many fans hailed them as strong contenders for the championship. But after the start of the season, due to injuries and many other reasons, the Lakers did not run out the best chemistry, in addition to the new signing Nunn has not been able to play so far, James and Davis the two cores have been plagued by injuries to varying degrees. At present, Davis's absence is also an important reason for the Lakers' poor state.
In short, with not much remaining schedule in the regular season, the Lakers are already in jeopardy. On the one hand, the gap between them and the eighth-place Clippers in the West has become wider and wider, and the Pelicans, who are tenth in the West behind them, are also getting tighter and tighter, and if they can't find a way to win, then the Lakers are likely to fall to tenth place in the West. On the other hand, while the rules of the playoffs have been continued in the league this season, if the Lakers can't reach the top eight in the West at the end of the regular season, their playoff games will be very tough.
And looking back at the two games won by the Lakers in the past 11 games, james through unlimited overdraft of himself, in both games to cut 50+ in exchange, which is not a good news for the Lakers, James's physical health will be greatly challenged, if you want to finally enter the playoffs, then the Lakers must overcome the current problem of slow heat.