Losers of three straight, this time to the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers have also caused NBA legend and Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley to go 0-6 on his parlays. Meanwhile, the Chuckster’s parlays are the least of the Purple and Gold’s problems as they have repeated the same script in the Lakers’ blowout loss to the Nuggets. Anyway, here’s Charles Barkley calling LeBron James a “bum” for his busted parlay during their postgame coverage of the Lakers and Suns.
Another Lakers collapse
Something must be in the water in the Lakers’ locker room since this Suns loss is the second straight time they’ve come out flat and listless after halftime.
Otherwise, what is Redick telling the Lakers squad during the break for them to cough up 37 and 36 points in the third quarter to playoff contenders like the Nuggets and Suns?
Moreover, this problem seems beyond roster construction, since it concerns mainly defensive effort and focus. The best defenders in the league will still give up 40 points in 12 minutes if they don’t stay disciplined and guard their opponents.
Additionally, the Lakers could survive a 40-point quarter from their opponents if they could also score with them, but in their two latest losses they’ve only scored 15 and 18 points in the third quarter, respectively.
Against the Suns, LeBron James had 18 points and ten boards, seven points short of getting Charles Barkley’s over of 25, but he needs to score more than that if the Lakers want to overcome their defensive lapses.
After LeBron went dunk for dunk with Kevin Durant in the second quarter, fans might have thought they were in for a barn-burner, but the Lakers let go of the rope for some reason.
Meanwhile, Durant and Bradley Beal returned to the Suns’ lineup, giving the team enough of an offensive spark to go 17-42 from three and turn the ball over only nine times.
This is not a serious team
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Speaking of 17, it only took 17 games for Redick to realize his defensive schemes didn’t work, and that they were winning mostly because of their high-octane offense, ranked fourth in offensive rating across the league.
On the other hand, they are 27th in the NBA in defensive rating.
Asking Anthony Davis to be the best player on both offense and defense hasn’t worked since Darvin Ham coached them, but besides waiting for Jarred Vanderbilt to come back from injury, they have to find a scheme to fit a roster with no perimeter defenders and rebounders.
Such is the story of the Lakers since the misbegotten trade for Russell Westbrook in 2022: an infuriatingly inconsistent squad unable to put it all together despite having two of the best players in the entire league.
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