[ad_1]
Almost a year ago, Golden State coach Steve Kerr sat in his dressing room in Los Angeles before playing against the Lakers and called the playoff race a “spurt to the finish.”
The possibility of avoiding the play-in tournament and the fear of falling outside the top 10 entirely existed for the Warriors and Lakers at the time, just as they did for Kerr’s team and the current Lakers, both of whom played their first games out of the tournament. We played against each other. Qualified for All-Star participation for the second consecutive year.
The situation is not as enthusiastic as it was a year ago. The Lakers aren’t five games below .500 at the break like they were back then. But make no mistake, there will be a sprint, especially with the Lakers and Warriors both gunning for the No. 6 seed from last place in the play-in picture.
read more: Hydeia Broadbent, who worked with Magic Johnson in the fight against HIV/AIDS, dies at 39
And if this is going to be a race, the Lakers haven’t looked very good out of the blocks, struggling to contain Stephen Curry in a 128-110 loss against the LeBron James-less Warriors.
James, who missed his second straight game (with a brief cameo in Sunday’s All-Star Game), is on a “day-to-day” schedule as he undergoes ankle treatments to stay as healthy as possible as the Lakers advance toward the postseason. spending time.
The team also was unable to bring back Cam Reddish as he continues his recovery process from a knee injury. He practiced with trainers on the court during the Lakers’ Thursday morning shootaround.
read more: Lakers believe their offensive identity will help them stay hot after the All-Star break
The Lakers were also dealing with some illnesses that occurred during the All-Star break, including Anthony Davis losing his voice while Austin Reaves recovered from the illness.
Short on players and forced to play smaller than they would have liked, the Lakers didn’t put up much resistance for a long time. Curry scored 25 points in the first half, rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis dominated minutes against the Lakers’ second unit, and the Warriors were able to close out the game better than the Lakers all game, starting with scored in the final 1.5 seconds of each of the three quarters.
The Lakers were outscored by 18 points at the 3-point line, lost on the glass, and lost badly in the battle for bench points.
Davis led the Lakers with 27 points and 15 rebounds as the team stopped the game midway through the fourth inning heading into Friday’s home game against San Antonio.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
[ad_2]
Source link
