Lakers vs Knicks! Injury Update, STRANGE Facts, Plus Keys To A LA Victory

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Hello, Lakers Nation. Welcome in to thelakersnation.com podcast.

My name is Trevor Lane and it's game day.

Eve, maybe depending on when you're watching this.

The Lakers and Nics play each other so early on Sunday that I'm going to publish this Saturday.

Evening to give people a little more time to watch it.

So whenever you're watching this, the Lakers play the nics.

12 30 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday.

I'll be live right here on thelakersnation.com YouTube channel for the game.

Come hang out.

It's like a party.

We'll do a little play-by-play break down the game as it happens.

And we'll see if the Lakers can pick up a way and over an opponent that is absolutely on a roll right now in the Eastern Conference.

Not going to be easy.

The nics are playing their best basketball of the season.

But the Lakers are also doing some really interesting things right now.

In fact, I want to get into some fun with stats, some kind of weird stats around the Lakers right now.

Both positive and negative to dive into.

Plus we'll look at the injury reports.

Some really important things going on for both teams there.

We'll also take a look at the standings and get into the keys to victory for the game.

So let's dive in.

We're going to start with the injury update and see where things are at for both clubs right now.

Now the Lakers, of course, have had a number of injuries.

LeBron James, Maxi Cleba and DeAndre Aiden, Ole Miss last game, which was a win against the Indiana Pacers.

Luca Dongett dropped 44 points.

Also had five stocks.

How about that, Luca?

Five stocks, steals and blogs combined.

He was incredible.

Well, for tomorrow's game or today's, you know, whenever you're watching a Lakers nics, LeBron and Maxi are questionable.

LeBron listed with a left elbow contusion.

And left foot arthritis.

Now that left elbow contusion came in the last game that the Lakers played prior.

That was against Denver.

Prior to the game against the Pacers, Maxi has been dealing with a back issue for the last few games.

And actually, I thought not having Maxi against Denver was kind of a big deal.

It's something that did set the Lakers back because they were down to just one center available with no DeAndre Aiden as well.

It was only able to play in five minutes for that game.

Speaking of DA, DeAndre Aiden completely off the injury report did not play against the Pacers,

but not on the injury report at all now.

So not questionable, not probable.

Now that just means he's in.

That's it.

DeAndre Aiden will be back for the Lakers against the nicks.

Brony James and Adieu Thiro.

Boy, I wanted to see Adieu Thiro get some run at the end of that blowout win over the Pacers.

But Adieu Thiro assigned to the South Bay Lakers.

So that means that neither one of them will be available available to be called upon by the Lakers.

Now, JJ sounded fairly confident LeBron would be good to go for this game against the nicks.

So I'm going to assume that he is going to play Maxi.

I think is more of a true kind of up in the air type of thing.

And they could wind up needing Maxi.

You know, the hustle that he brings to the center position, just giving another look.

He could wind up being a player that could see a few minutes out there against the next.

Particularly when we're talking about a nicks team that's got Carly at the town.

It's got Mitch Robinson.

One of the other Lakers pigs were to get into foul trouble or something.

Maxi could find himself out there on the court.

So would certainly be nice to see Maxi available.

But I am expecting LeBron to go.

I'm going to assume that he's playing it until we hear otherwise.

Now for the next side of things.

Not an extensive injury report, but Miles McBride.

He's been out for a while.

He is still out for this one.

And then.

So no dispute.

Introduce McBride.

And then Landry Shamit was if he is a next spring.

And he is questionable.

He's been pretty important for the nicks.

He's been.

I mean, he's really good movement shooter.

Been doing a nice job attacking close outs to just kind of a glue guy,

but also providing a lot of floor spacing for a nicks team that shoots a lot of threes.

Hits a lot of threes.

Landry Shamit's been a big part of that.

Been a great find for them this year.

So he is questionable for this one as well.

All right.

Let's take a quick peek at the standings.

And then we're going to do a little strange, but true regarding your Los Angeles

Lakers.

So the standings as I'm recording this Saturday evening.

There are some games still going, but nothing too major.

That'll change things right now.

The Lakers currently sitting in the sixth seed.

But they are just half a game back of the Denver Nuggets.

And the Minnesota Timberwolves didn't lose to the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

So the Lakers now just a game and a half back Orlando really played well.

I watched that game in Orlando played.

I mean, just very high intensity basketball for nearly the entire game.

The wolves struggled shooting the ball.

Part of it was just a poor shooting performance by Minnesota.

But I thought Orlando really was competitive all game long.

The Lakers will see the magic when they head out on the road.

I believe that's next week.

But the wolves drop a game.

So that doesn't hurt the Lakers.

Pulls them within a game and a half of Minnesota.

Of course, we know the Lakers schedule.

Very, very difficult coming up here.

There's a long and difficult stretch of teams.

If the Lakers just cannot beat the.

Let's call it contender tier teams.

This will be a rough couple of weeks here for the Lakers.

So this is the schedule ahead.

The Lakers next 10 games.

We've got the nicks.

Then the wolves, the bulls, the nuggets.

Houston and Houston on the road.

And then second night of back to back Miami.

That's rough.

That is really rough.

And then at Orlando at Detroit.

And then at Indy.

So there's only two games against tanking teams in there.

And that's Indy and Chicago.

Right now.

I mean, every game.

It kind of becomes.

For every team in the NBA.

Are you playing one of the nine tanking teams?

Or not, right?

If you're not, then you probably have a competitive game on your hands.

If you are, then you probably are going to coast to a relatively easy win.

And of course, the nine tanking teams are the bottom five teams in the West.

The Grizzlies, the Mavs, the Pelicans, the Jazz and the Kings.

And then the bottom four in the East because the box are still trying.

They're not successfully winning games, but they're trying to win games.

The bulls, the wizards, the nets and the facers.

And the bulls did win their last game.

The Brooklyn Nets won the last game as well.

So even even the tanking teams are getting wins at times.

But there really is a big difference between playing one of those nine teams versus playing.

One of the teams that's really pushing for playoff seating, something like that.

By the way, as I'm speaking right now, the Clippers are up by just three over the Grizzlies in Memphis.

So that's turned into a really good game.

We'll see what actually happens there.

Who knows maybe Memphis.

I mean, there's only four seconds left, but Memphis could actually, despite.

Tanking wind up stealing a game.

All right.

We need to get into strange, but true.

A few stats.

I want to key in on some trends that are both extremely positive.

Man, maybe a bit concerning for what we've seen from these Lakers post all star break.

Then we'll get into the keys to victory for tonight's game.

We'll get to that in just one minute.

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All right, and that game did end up going final.

The Clippers did just beat the Grizzlies, which actually maybe the kind of the best thing for the.

I mean, it's the best thing for the Grizzlies to stack up losses right now.

But remember the Clippers pick goes to the thunder.

Now, tell you what, I don't like seeing that the thunder have a 7% chance right now of a top four pick with that Clippers pick what I would like.

And this feels weird to say it.

I would like the Clippers to make their way into the top eight so that the thunder have zero chance of a top four pick.

Just we've already seen shenanigans with the spurs moving up multiple times now and just being force fed top picks.

Look, I know the Lakers did it too, but you know, what 10 years ago when they got Lonzo and D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram and all of that.

But yeah, the, the thunder, they do not need another tie.

I don't even want to see a 7% chance that they get a top pick.

I would like to see that pick land 15 something like that.

So that would mean the Clippers would need to win a few more games and leapfrogs and teams.

So we'll see if that actually can happen or not this time of year.

We got to start keeping an eye on draft picks.

By the way, the Lakers, if the draft were to be right now, they would have the 21st pick in the upcoming NBA draft in June.

All right, let's get into strange but true.

Some good news, some not so good news for the Lakers in terms of trends that we're seeing right now.

And maybe explains something that has been drawing actually a lot of heat in the media.

And that is Luca.

Lucas complaining.

Maybe an explain explanation for this, but take a look at this.

So the Lakers.

Since the All Star break played nine games, they are five and four during that stretch of nine games, which.

That's okay, right?

A little bit above 500.

And of course, we could say, well, the teams are beating are largely the not very good teams.

And the teams are losing to are the good teams.

And that's a challenge.

And I know that is put a damper on the spirits of many a Lakers fan.

But the Lakers are fourth in offensive rating during that time.

Fourth.

I mean, that's pretty damn good, right?

Especially, I mean, how are you five and four in your fourth and offensive rating?

Like that's pretty, pretty phenomenal.

Charlotte Horn, by the way, number one in offense rating and buy a decent margin to Hornet there.

They're fun team.

Now, defensively, the Lakers 18.

So that's how you're five and four, despite being first in offense rating.

But it's not so much that the Lakers are fourth and offensive rating that is surprising.

No, no, no, when I say strange, but true, there is something that is particularly peculiar

about the Lakers being fourth in offensive rating.

We've talked about how this teams ceiling offensively is as a top five team in the offensive side of the ball.

So on the surface, that wouldn't come as much of a surprise.

But yet, it should.

The reason why is because look at this.

Oh, my goodness.

The Lakers who, I mean, opposing fans will certainly tell you,

there is a grand lead conspiracy.

And it is, and there's evidence of it.

And no, I'm not talking about getting paid to not plant trees.

I'm talking about putting the Lakers on the free throw line that the Lakers are being fed free throws in order to keep them relevant.

If you will listen to what opposing fans think.

Well, the Lakers, since the all star break are 17th in the NBA in free throw attempts per game.

16 teams take more free throw attempts per game.

In fact, number one in the NBA, the big market, New Orleans Pelicans.

If there's ever evidence of NBA conspiracy, this is it.

The New Orleans Pelicans.

Number one in the NBA in free throw attempts per game.

Since the all star break, the Lakers again, 17th.

Now, the Lakers of the course, the season have been one of the higher volume free throw shooting teams.

So how with their free throw superpowers apparently nerfed here.

How then are the Lakers 4th best in offensive rating?

Well, maybe it's the threes, right?

It must be that it's got to be the threes and lo and behold, the Lakers are number two in the NBA since the all star break in three point percentage.

In fact, since Luke canard arrived with the Lakers, they have been number two in the NBA in three point percentage.

The Lakers historically not a very good three point shooting team, but they've been number two in the NBA in three point percentage since the all star break.

And let's also make sure we give a big shout out to Luca Dongeck, who in Luke canard obviously has been shooting the hell out of the ball.

The the Lakers even sent out a little press release about how well he's been shooting and how he's been a 50% three point shooter and all of that.

But let's also give credit to Luca Dongeck because Luca has been absolutely lighting it up and certainly his volume is going to matter more towards the Lakers percentage than say Luke canard.

Lucas taking 10 threes per game.

In fact, Luca is shooting 44% from deep post all star break.

So in those nine games, he has absolutely been lighting it up.

Great to see the three ball falling for him. He's been absolutely fantastic.

44% from deep from Lucas.

So that's a big factor to in the Lakers three point percentage now being second in the NBA post all star break.

But that's also not the answer or not the entire answer for why the Lakers are number four and offensive rating because I'll tell you what is weird.

The Lakers in three point attempts post all star break rank 23rd bottom third in the NBA and attempts to while they're shooting the three very, very well.

They're not shooting a high enough volume to where it would drastically change their offensive rating. It helps.

But that can't explain why the team is suddenly fourth in the NBA and offensive rating post all star break when you also factor in that they're no longer getting to the free throw line.

It does help that overall their field goal percentage during that stretch is number three, but on the season they're number one.

So it's not like that is shifted. So what truly then has changed if the Lakers are shooting significantly better from three, but they're not shooting a very high volume from three.

The Lakers are not getting to the free throw line nearly as much as they did earlier on in the season.

What has changed I give you turnovers Lakers number one in the NBA post all star break in turnovers for a Lakers team that on the season is largely struggled with turnovers.

In fact, we've seen them in games recently have a big, big turnover problems for them to be number one in the NBA in turnovers post all star break at just 12.2.

That is remarkable. And my hope is that that is something that is in some way sustainable. I mean the Lakers even going back to their game against the Pelicans, they had 21 turnovers.

They have a 21 turnover game on their ledger post all star break in nine games and yet are still number one in the NBA in fewest turnovers with an average is 12.2.

That's crazy to have an average of 12.2 when you have a 21 turnover game in a nine game sample size.

That that's pretty amazing. The Lakers have been able to do that. But they've been doing such a good job taking care of the basketball.

That means they're going to start getting a more shot attempts and that's going to increase their overall offensive rating.

So how are the Lakers fourth and offensive ratings despite not shooting enough threes despite not getting to the free throw line the way they were earlier on in the season.

They have stopped turning the ball over so much and the exciting part of that is if if that turnover rate is sustainable in any way.

Well, even if they're top five in turnover percentage the rest of the way and the free throw attempts start to normalize while the three point percentage stays high.

Maybe you can increase the volume there. That's where the Lakers could actually go to being a very, very good off not even just top five.

But one of the best offensive teams in the NBA if you can combine all of those things earlier on in the season.

The Lakers were getting to the free throw line of time, but they weren't shooting on high enough percentage from three and they were turning the ball over like crazy.

Now the three point percentage has come up. The volume has not come up high enough yet.

But the turnovers have gone way, way down the free throws have also gone down though.

So they got to strike the right balance there. But surprising that turnovers have largely been the driving force behind the Lakers being one of the NBA's best offensive teams post trade deadline.

And it's not been free throw attempts. All right.

I mentioned Luke in there like there's a lot of criticism of Luca for complaining to the officials that the Lakers are literally getting to the line way less now than they were before the break than they were earlier on in season.

Perhaps that's part of the reason why the Lakers are complaining more now that is not an excuse.

So Luca still needs to get back every time he stops to complain or anyone, whether it's Luca LeBron Austin, Jackson Hayes, it doesn't matter.

Whoever the player is anytime you stop to complain to a referee rather than getting back defensively, you are hanging your teammates out to dry.

It simply cannot happen. This is not a good enough defensive team to do that.

You're giving up points every time you do it. So by no means am I excusing the complaining because it's got to stop.

It's got us and there have been games where I think Luke has been better about it.

But the Lakers as a team have to be better about that in general. Complain during a dead ball.

Don't complain during a live ball. But there has been the number show.

There has been a significant drop in the amount of free throw attempts the Lakers have received. So perhaps there is some frustration bubbling up more than typical with that as well.

All right, let's get into the keys to make free. What do the Lakers need to do in order to win this game?

So the next they've been playing very, very well.

They've been one of the best teams in the NBA recently. They're absolutely killing it. They're playing the best basketball of their season.

Right now they are fifth in the NBA in net rating on the season.

They have really turned it up defensively.

When we do go and look at the next they're sixth in the NBA in net rating post all star, but it's a significant increase in their overall net rating number.

There are plus 9.8 in net rating. So that's absolutely phenomenal stuff from them.

Their defensive rating has been through the roof. In fact, we go look there number four in the NBA in defensive rating.

They've quickly become one of the best defensive teams in the league. So what do the Lakers need to do in order to beat them?

The nicks are running a lot of drop coverage in order to get this. And essentially what has come out of out of New York is that they've simplified their defense considerably.

And that's allowed Carl Anthony towns to become a better defensive piece for them. They're running a lot, a lot, a lot of drop coverage.

Remember they go from Carl Anthony towns to Mitchell Robinson. Sometimes they'll play the two of them together.

But at the very least they've got a really sturdy rebounder cat is leading the NBA in rebounds per game.

And Mitchell Robinson is one of the most talented offensive rebounders we have in the league and one of the most talented offensive rebounders we've seen in the current era.

So look, they're a formidable team. There's no question. And when they can keep those guys on the floor and run drop with them, that can create problems.

Unfortunately, the Lakers have also been a team that has struggled offensively would drop. They've done better when teams blitz the pick and roll. And Luca can just either split the double or move the basketball and the ball gets pinging around.

And that's where Luca's processing speed in the open floor is so, so incredible. And he does a great job picking out where the ball needs to go in order to slice apart the defense.

It's truly, you know, we think about how good I mean, Luke is amazing, right? But we think about what his superpowers are.

One of them that doesn't get enough credit. It is his processing speed. It's the way he sees the floor and how quickly he identifies where the pass needs to go and where the open shot is going to come from.

Truly, I mean, next, next level stuff from Luca, but the Lakers are going to have to find success against drop coverage. And the next you're going to run a lot of it.

The Lakers, fortunately, are masters of the mid range and oftentimes drop coverage will give up a mid range shot. So when they set the Lakers do set that high pick and roll.

The big is going to whether it's cat Mitch Robinson, they're going to drop deep into the paint. And that will give up the 15 footer. Now the good news for the Lakers is they are indeed masters of the mid range right now the Lakers.

I've been one of the best teams in the NBA when it comes to mid range shooting. In fact, we dig into their shooting accuracy. Yeah, there are number one still in mid range shots percentage wise in terms of their their accuracy from there.

There are also number one at the rim. They're extremely efficient team at the rim and the mid range. So they're going to have to take that space when the biggest dropped into the paint.

The Lakers are going to have to take the space and then react appropriately to how the defense responds to them, but they're going to have to knock down those mid range shots when they're presented to them.

Now, I also included the Spain pick and roll that could open up some opportunities, getting them to the rim with that extra screen coming in.

And then we can also look for re screen opportunities and actually de Andreate and is very, very good at screening and then re screening.

So the Lakers are going to have to be a little creative at times and they're going to have to find ways past this drop coverage defense that's been very, very successful for the next.

Remember, they've got guys like OGN and OB like Michele Bridges, Josh Hart, our old friend that can fly around on the perimeter.

They can wreak havoc and passing lanes. So the Lakers are going to have to be clinical and how they approach beating this drop coverage.

It's not going to be the same answer every single time down the floor, but the Lakers are going to have to do a good job scoring efficiently, which is an area that they've struggled with specifically against drop coverage.

So I want to see a lot of different things. The Lakers got to throw a lot of curve balls at this next defense, which has become a very important weapon for New York.

All right, the next thing down on the corner, out in the street, the corners, the Lakers defensively, you know, they've been running a lot of zone.

But the nicks are a phenomenal corner three shooting team. And unfortunately, the Lakers have not been so great defending threes in general.

The Lakers, they've been given up just the ninth worst, I suppose. They've been ninth best at opponents three point percentage from the corners.

Okay, that's good. Unfortunately, they're also 26th in the NBA. It opponents percentage on non corner three. So above the break threes, the Lakers are 26th in the NBA, defending that shot.

But they've been done. Okay, ish, I guess, opponent shooting 37% on corner threes. However, we look at frequency. Oops. Yeah, that that's, that's the problem. The Lakers ranked 25th in the NBA in corner three frequency.

Why is that such a problem specifically for this game? Well, let's go take a look at the New York nicks and see what it is that they do. Whoops. Yeah.

Number one in the NBA in frequency of corner threes generated the nicks hunt corner threes and the Lakers are one of the worst teams in the NBA at giving up corner threes. Now that said, they've done a decent job contesting because they're not giving up the worst field goal or three point percentage from that spot.

But nonetheless, they give up a lot of them and the nicks shoot more of them than anybody else. So that's not ideal right there. Now accuracy wise also. Yeah, not great. The nicks number three in the NBA in accuracy on corner threes 42%

Now again, the Lakers average 37% of their opponents average 37% on corner threes. The next average 32 42% on their corner three makes. So the Lakers defense has got to be especially aggressive getting out to those corner shooters. And the next will oftentimes get those corner threes in transition.

Particularly again, they're very good rebounding team. They will get out and run and then be able to fill the corners quickly with guys like Michael Bridges, OG and I know he can do it.

This is where Landry Shamit being out could actually be helpful because oftentimes they can generate those corner threes off of offensive boards.

And we know that's the forte of Mitch Robinson, Carlisle, the town has done an excellent job rebounding as well.

So the Lakers got to be careful not just in transition, but also on the glass. They've got to do a nice job on the glass. That's actually going to protect them against some of those corner threes.

As much as we think about the Lakers zone defense. What can they do to get out of the corners there? The Lakers and the man defense.

Can they do some things to try to just pay a little bit of extra attention to the corners and not try not to give up that shot so much force the next to take some more shots that they're not comfortable with.

But the truth is that you're going to generate a lot of those looks off of offensive boards as well. So you really have to do a very deliberate and locked in job on the glass because if you give up offensive rebounds, you tend to give up either

tippens right at the rim or white open threes and specifically corner threes off of those. So the Lakers, they're going to have to do what they can to mitigate the corner three attempts for the next.

It's how they're beating a lot of teams. They're getting a high volume there hitting a high percentage and it makes them a very, very difficult team to deal with.

Okay, we have one more key to victory here to get into that I'm going to get into the X factor of the game going to get to that in one minute be right back.

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All right the last key to victory here for the Lakers it is where have all the not cowboys free throws gone where have all the free throws gone for the Lakers 17 to the NBA in free throw attempts they're going to have to fix that and this game potentially could be a step in that

direction we go look at the next there right now since the all star break 24th in the NBA in fouls committed per game and they are a bottom third team on the season.

This is not just a small sample size situation there bottom third team on the season in fouls committed per game so this is a team that can get themselves in a little bit of foul trouble now they also defend aggressively on the perimeter that's something the Lakers have struggled with.

So you need to say it but decent chunk of this game will also be how is the game officiated do they call it very close.

They let a lot of stuff go frankly if they call it close I think that will benefit the Lakers if they let a lot of stuff go that will benefit the next who have been a higher volume foul team.

The Lakers fifth in the NBA post all star break in fouls committed per game we want to look at the entire season the Lakers number four so pretty similar there.

However, on the season the Lakers number three in the NBA in free throw attempts per game that's even with the last nine games dragging them down so heavily.

The free throw attempts have got to come back up that's the turnover rate has been fantastic and that has definitely helped the Lakers offense be more efficient and the three point percentage.

Since the arrival of Luke canard and with this Renaissance from Luke I'm just hitting 44% from three that's certainly been a positive step even if they aren't shooting a high enough volume from three Luca did say after last game that.

Luke that Luke canard and Ruby they need to shoot more I mean these guys are phenomenal shooters they need to shoot more from behind the arc Luke Luca made that comment about Luke canard and Ruby Hatchamura.

But ultimately the Lakers do need to get their free throw attempts back up and some of that is on the Lakers of course some of that is just on the officiating some of it as well we can point to.

You often read so I'm going to talk about just a little spoiler there I'm going to talk about him in a minute we get to the X factor for the game but the Lakers 17 since the Alistair break league there's 22.6 free throw attempts per game and that's despite the fact that they're turning the ball over significantly less so they're they're actually using more possessions they're not shooting very many threes and yet their free throws have dropped by what for per game that they're that they're shooting fewer now than they were.

Prior to the Alistair break it's been a gradual decline from the free throw line for the Lakers and you can see that when you dig into the individual stats of some of these players we are seeing I think more contact being allowed to a degree but the Orlando magic are still shooting 26.7 free throw attempts per game.

That's on the season let's see what the post all star high is right now 28.7 for the pelicans like there are teams that are getting high numbers of free throws the Lakers just not one of them right now last game gets the Pacers Austin Reeves was upset with the officials he got grabbed on a drive to the basket just reached out grabbed his arm pulled him and nothing and the calls they were getting earlier on in the season we're not going their way and we can say well that's playoff basketball they just got to adjust and they just got to get used to it.

Yeah there is some truth to that right there is some true to that they can't if they don't get the calls they can't let it get in their heads but I can't they can also can't let that to turn them right and by let it get in their heads they can't start arguing with the officials about it they also can't do the thing where they drive they don't get a call some the next time they drive they're really trying to create contact and just play your game get into the paint paint to great attack the drop coverage be aggressive we do have this

a bit of a friendly we're friendly or whistle I think I think that we are seeing more things let go but the free throw attempts ultimately do need to go back up and I know the Lakers only can control so much of that some of that is on the shoulders of the officials they've got to make the call when it's there and maybe some of the calls that you know we're a little bit in the Lakers favor they were a little fortunate to get early on in the season maybe those aren't happening at this point but if the Lakers are going to the to sustain it

not being a top 15 defense and being a top offense they're going to have to be a really really good offense in order to win games against some of the best teams in the NBA and that's going to mean in order to increase your efficiency you've got to get to the line at an even higher rate so we do need to see a bounce back from the free throw attempts for the Lakers I know Lucas driving a lot he gets hit a lot he he's still shooting free throws but the one that I really wanted to focus on for my X factor for this game

it's Austin Reeves who we've seen now month by month we've seen a gradual decrease in his overall numbers you know I thought we were going to see a big bounce back night in terms of shot volume for Austin Reeves last game against the Pacers because the problem is not playing some naturally there's going to be more shots to go around but Austin still finish actually felt out of the game and finished with 14 shot attempts and that's more in line with just what we're seeing from Austin right now is

12 13 14 shot attempts he's averting 12.3 in the month of March that's only four games but you look at the month of February 12 shot attempts per game now he was on a minutes restriction for part of that but that's a significant drop from October when he averaged 18.8 but even November where he averaged 15.8 we're seeing a lot less shots per game from Austin Reeves so the Lakers name we also saw 7.5 free throw attempts per game for Austin in that much I'm sorry 8.6

I was looking at the three is 8.6 free throw attempts per game in November saw 11.2 in October that that's obviously not sustainable but 8.6 down to 6.3 the next month in December 5.8 now he's at 5 each month it's dropping off I think that's part of why we're seeing the Lakers free throw attempts fall as well so I do think this is a game where you need to get Austin Reeves going where he's got to have it's been a while since he's had a 20 point game

in fact we got to go all the way back to February 20 to find a 29 point game from Austin that was what nine games ago now most nights he is not hitting the 20 point mark anymore and again part of that is the shots are the shot volume is going down now the shot the percentage has been fine I know we look at March and he's only 32% from 3 in March 39% from the field but he was 50% and 41%

in February bigger sample size there I think we'll see a bounce back I did think that he was last couple of games he's been maybe a little uncertain of when to shoot when to pass just look the little out of sorts

but he did get things going a bit late against the Pacers and then did the same against the nugget started slow but finished 6 for 11 so he can't complain about that efficiency and then 6 for 14 against the patient fine had a couple of drives to the rim where he scored but you could use a big game from Austin

and especially when we're talking about this next defense running a lot of drop Austin can crush that in fact you know one of the most memorable Austin Reeves games was his very first playoff game against the Memphis Grizzlies few years back when it was a brown one series

and Austin in the fourth quarter took of game one took over and just attacked the drop coverage got into the paint and just hit floater after floater after floater

and ultimately ice the game just ended ended it took apart Memphis Grizzlies when everybody was focused on the broad James and Anthony Davis there was Austin Reeves hitting big shot after big shot

they're going to need that out of him in this game he's going to have to get into the paint he's going to have to take the space attacking that drop coverage he's going to have to get himself to the

free throw line where the defense is coming over he'll put him in jail get and that means getting the guy on his hip not allowing him to the defender to get back in front once he gets shoulders past get

contact if you can get some and ones that's going to matter a lot Austin Reeves needs to have a big game for the Lakers especially given the type of defense that the

Lakers are going to be playing and that's not say it's going to be easy because we have also seen Austin struggle with very aggressive perimeter

defenses can that's what the next can be so Austin is going to be pivotal for the Lakers in this game and he needs to have a bounce back

20 plus point high efficiency game if the Lakers are going to get this done remember when we look at the Lakers schedule and what they've

done over the course of the NBA season it's it's become a fair criticism that this team has just not been able to win

the big games I mean there's some above 500 teams that they've beaten and so we look at their above 500 record it's not great

want to say they're 14 and 19 against above 500 teams right now but when you increase that even look to above 600 teams

then it starts to really drop off because the Lakers they've beaten some above like technically you know Golden State was above 500 but has

anybody seen okay you beat Golden State does that and does that say that you're in that upper tiers that truly a top tier team no

so some of the above 500 teams that they beat you know okay you beat Philly but they're like these kind of just barely above 500 teams

and that will help but when you look at the true hey this team has real designs on a deep playoff run Denver it's a loss even Phoenix

just stylistically poses and problems that was a lost Orlando that shouldn't have been a loss but it was a loss Boston loss

San Antonio loss okay see loss right I mean you just you don't have I'm preaching to the choir here but you don't have a

statement win last time you played the next you lost by 12 you lost by 30 to the calves in Cleveland lost to the Clippers

and that was when the Clippers started to turn things around and get going again drop games to Charlotte in Portland

those aren't you know the best of the best the Charlotte's doing some incredible things but lost to San Antonio Milwaukee Sacramento

where the marquee matchups that that you're looking for the victories and now they did hit a stretch mid season

where they just didn't have those but there's Boston a loss Phoenix a loss San Antonio a loss okay again direct playoff

opponents in Phoenix and then San Antonio lose lose those ones okay see a loss you beat San Antonio

earlier on in the season but that was also the Spurs weren't really the Spurs yet and into their groove

I still contend that the Lakers last like statement while they they played well and beat a very good team win

was either October 29th against the Wolves or November 5th against the Spurs

and both of those were just you just barely got over the hump against them you beat Minnesota by one you beat San Antonio by two

and either way whichever one you pick we're talking about the end of October beginning November it's been a long time

since the Lakers and that's why I think there's so much doom and gloom around this team right now

despite the fact that they're above 500 despite the fact that they are I mean people from other teams asking they

like why why is there so much negativity when the Lakers are I mean there's other teams that would kill

to be above 500 right now to have the record the Lakers have right now why is there so much negativity

things because they've not gotten these wins they've not gotten the true statement wins

that say that they have some type of hope in the postseason because guess who they're going to be playing in the postseason

it's these teams that they keep losing to that's who they're going to be going up against

so this stretch that I already talked about that's very difficult stocked with playoff quality high level playoff teams

the Lakers have to use this stretch to figure it out find a way to pick up some wins against some of these teams

find a way to show that hey they can be on that level they may not be there every night

but they can get that because we haven't seen it yet we haven't seen them get to that level against a quality opponent

maybe that happens today hopefully it does because I went over the nicks would be really big

this is this is not just the next team that is right now number three in these 73 in their last 10

this is a nicks team that's also playing that beat the Lakers last time around that is now playing their best basketball of the season

they dismantled San Antonio beat Houston I mean they've got some big wins they beat Boston

this is a good team this is a good nicks team so a win to me a win in this game would mean more than just another win on the record

it would be one indication that they do have the ability to raise their level of play to true upper tier playoff competition

and again this will not be the only opportunity for them to do so they've got Minnesota coming up they've got Denver coming up again

the games against Houston right they've got plenty of those games ahead of them here but you got to start winning some of them

and hopefully that starts today with the nicks all right everybody coming out 12 30 p.m. Pacific time

either today or tomorrow depending on when you when you're watching this Sunday 12 30 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday

Lakers take all the nicks coming out we'll do a little play by play breakdown the game as it's happening

until then everybody see ya and stay safe

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