NBA regular season opening game, the Lakers lost 123-109 away Warriors again became a hot topic of discussion in the outside world. After all, looking at the opening game last season, the two armies were also facing each other, but the Lakers only lost 7 points.
Obviously, this comparison makes many people feel depressed. Could it be that the Lakers are not as good as last season after all their efforts to strengthen this season?
In fact, although the Lakers lost a big score this time, the responsibility is not entirely dependent on their lineup. Objectively speaking, according to expectations, the Lakers players have performed very well.
This time, the Lakers still used last season's core lineup " James + Davis +Westbrook" to play, Lakers' official Twitter released pre-match entry photos of Westbrook and Davis, "the first game combination". Westbrook, who had played as a substitute in the preseason and retired accidentally, returned to the starting lineup in this game.
This news once aroused many people's dissatisfaction. After all, just one trial did not meet fans' expectations for Westbrook.
But unfortunately, it looks like the Lakers aren't ready to officially put Westbrook on the bench.
At the same time, two new players, Lonny Walker and Beverly , are entering the starting lineup. In fact, compared with last season, the maneuverability of this lineup seems to be stronger.
Although the Lakers lost a crushing defeat in this game, the core players did not lose the data.
In this game, LeBron James played for 35 minutes, making 12 of 25 shots, including 3 of 10 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, and scored 31 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists.
Anthony Davis , played 34 minutes in the game, made 10 of 22 shots, 0 of 3 three-pointers, 7 of 9 free throws, scored 27 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
"highly watched" Westbrook played 29 minutes in the game, making 7 of 12 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, scoring 19 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
Last season, the Lakers were able to compete with the Warriors in the game, losing only 7 points in the opening game, but this time the opening game lost a big score. This result made many people think that the Lakers' lineup this season, which has been strengthened in the offseason, is this really the case?
In fact, the Lakers will be stronger this season than last season. This is reflected in the competition.
First, the young people in the Lakers lineup are energetic.
The Lakers actually performed very well in the preseason. The team's young people can run and jump. In this game, they showed a momentum to chase points in the fourth quarter. For example, players like Lonny Walker are full of energy, but their hands are limited, which leads to the team's space being too crowded and the tactics cannot be played.
However, considering that the Lakers could only rely on three-pointers on the offensive end last season, and because there were too many veterans, the performance on the defensive end was very sluggish, and even reached the point where the team would directly disarm once they were headwind. Although they luckily beat the Warriors last season, they relied more on the "X factor".
In this game, the Lakers' offense obviously pursued rationality. James is still the "main concatenator". Nunn , Walker, Beverly and others perform their own duties. After the tactics are running in better, they may not be able to do so.
As for the defensive end, the Lakers have made too much progress compared to last season, and all the players are focused. The new players led by Beverly are very enthusiastic about running, and Anthony Davis's defensive area is also reflected. Even Westbrook, who was repeatedly criticized last season, has been driven to show his outstanding rebounding ability repeatedly.
Although the Warriors performed poorly, if they play other teams in the future, they may make progress.
Second, the Warriors' strength is not comparable to last season.
The Warriors were once not optimistic because of their record in the middle of last season. Although they are still active in the league as the top three in the West, the momentum is not so fierce. The Warriors are now in the defending champions, and the tacit understanding of the players has been sublimated, and they have renewed their contracts with the two core players of Wiggins + Poole .
Wiggins and Poole played more competitively than last season in the game, and the two directly canceled the game one after another.
Poole's explosive power of 8 points in the first quarter makes people sigh at the timely renewal of the Warriors; and Wiggins' continuous three-pointers in the last quarter, which further reflects the Warriors' 4-year, 109 million contract value.
These two guys have played far more intense than last season. The Warriors are still the best contender for the league championship.
Although the Lakers have strengthened this season, they are just an playoff lineup. As a team pursuing near the Western Conference playoffs, it is believed that the Lakers had expected that they could play with the Warriors' championship lineup to this extent.
Third, the Lakers have a very plain mentality and can accept any situation.
The Lakers collapsed in the third quarter, and the score was once behind by 27 points. However, after the Lakers came on the court in the fourth quarter, they performed very dull in the face of this situation, and the players were still very active.
The Lakers once chased the score to 14 points. Although the final result was not satisfactory, there were finally some attitudes.
Follow this state and keep your mind steady. Once the Lakers can regain their offensive rhythm, such as AD's three-pointers, Walker's three-pointers and Beverly's three-pointers, etc., they also have a bright tomorrow.
Westbrook is still regarded as the "burden".
is a matter of saying that Westbrook's data has made good progress this time. He has begun to restrain himself in terms of low-level mistakes and has become focused on his enthusiasm. But even so, Westbrook once again became the "burden man".
Outside opinion still believes that Westbrook's unstable performance is not worth investing in energy to change, and ridicule is everywhere. For this reason, Durant spoke for Westbrook in an interview program. "If you fight side by side with sports superstars like LeBron James, everything you do will be magnified."
"If Russell misses a layup, it will be exaggerated. If a three-pointer is missing, Maybe he made 5 of 7 shots, but he missed those two shots. When you play badly, you will accept criticism, but now you regard him as your joke. I hope he can continue to play and block all noise."
Obviously, Westbrook is not suitable for the Lakers. Everyone knows that trading is a good choice for both sides, but the difficulty is that the Lakers do not have a suitable trading choice now. So, in the face of Westbrook's hard work attitude, we must at least give affirmation.
Although he is still not suitable for the Lakers, at least he will play more than last season to add more possibilities to the Lakers' goal of rushing to the playoffs.
So, I hope the Lakers can gradually improve in the next game and get a playoff spot.
