For the eleventh consecutive time, the Lakers lost in the angeleno derby to the Clippers but, unlike the first ten times, this defeat has real consequences in the standings, in what was probably the battle of Los Angeles the most important in history.
Beyond having lost against the team with which they were tied in terms of record before the meeting (41-38), the “Purple & Gold” effectively missed the opportunity to settle in the Top 6 in the Western Conference, four days before the end of the regular season.
In other words, to hope to qualify directly for the playoffs, the men of Darvin Ham will have to win their last two games, scheduled against Phoenix then Utah, while counting on at least one misstep from the Clippers or the Warriors.
” [Le calendrier] got the better of us. »
But in the camp of the Lakers, we did not expect in the first place that the mission would be simple against the Californian neighbor, the day after their victory obtained in overtime on the Jazz floor.
” It’s one of our toughest games of the season. », estimated Thus LeBron James, still present for 35 minutes during this “back-to-back”, after his 38 minutes the day before. ” [Il avait lieu] leaving a road-trip, after a late return [à la maison] and the day after overtime… It was one of those scheduling conflicts and it definitely got the better of us. »
Group cohesion at the center of priorities
This, of course, cannot justify everything and be considered the sole reason for this defeat, but it is clear that the 2020 champions felt the effects of fatigue and lacked legs in the first half. This was seen in attack, because several shots remained short and the losses of the ball were numerous, but also in defense, because rotations and folds were uncertain.
” It’s a human thing, the circumstances are real. It’s the NBA schedule and everyone has to go through it at some point, so that’s how it is. But I’m still proud of the way we fought. All you can expect from your players is to fight hard, stick together, take responsibility and make no excuses. “said Darvin Ham after the fact.
The most important thing for the Lakers coach being, in the end, that his team did not hesitate to fight and make the effort in the second half to pick up the score. Without success therefore, but a good omen for the future in terms of group cohesion. A group that has not lived that much, between the injuries of some (LeBron James) and others (D’Angelo Russell, Mo Bamba).
” Everyone wants to take risks to ensure that they are in a position to be as successful as possible. It’s beautiful, it’s the good side of the thing: we are together. Team, coaching-staff, organization… Everyone does everything it takes, correctly, to bring things back to where they should be. »
Stay healthy, to better plan the future
Where the teammates of LeBron James want to arrive is obviously in the playoffs. For now, they will have to go through the play-in box, but that’s hardly a problem in the locker room.
” Things are as they are and we’ll end where we end “Explained the quadruple MVP, who will not be the type to calculate to avoid one opponent or another. ” It’s like we’ve had four or five seasons in one. We cannot afford to say to ourselves: ‘This is what we need to do, this is where we are going to be’. We have to keep playing good basketball and then we’ll see. We’ll be ready no matter what [la place à laquelle] we finish. »
Eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in 2021, before not even qualifying for it in 2022, the Lakers know that the most important aspect for them is not to finish in this or that place, but to be 100% physically or, at the very least, completely.
” It’s all about health for us, it’s always been like the last two seasons, it’s our Achilles heel “Admitted LeBron James. ” If we can keep ourselves healthy in the next two games and then make it to the playoffs, then that’s fine for us, wherever we finish. [au classement]. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| lebron james | 52 | 35.7 | 50.0 | 30.3 | 77.0 | 1.2 | 7.2 | 8.4 | 6.8 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 28.9 |
| Anthony Davis | 53 | 34.0 | 56.9 | 26.4 | 78.2 | 3.5 | 8.9 | 12.4 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 26.5 |
| D’angelo Russell | 14 | 30.0 | 47.5 | 39.8 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 17.1 |
| Russell Westbrook | 52 | 28.7 | 41.7 | 29.6 | 65.5 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 15.9 |
| Austin Reaves | 61 | 28.6 | 52.3 | 39.1 | 86.5 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 12.8 |
| Dennis Schroder | 65 | 30.3 | 41.7 | 33.0 | 86.4 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 12.7 |
| Thomas Bryant | 41 | 21.4 | 65.4 | 44.0 | 74.1 | 1.6 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 12.1 |
| lonnie walker | 55 | 23.5 | 44.7 | 36.3 | 85.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 11.8 |
| Malik Beasley | 23 | 24.2 | 37.9 | 34.7 | 57.1 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 10.8 |
| Rui Hachimura | 30 | 22.5 | 49.4 | 31.7 | 71.4 | 1.0 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 9.7 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt | 23 | 24.6 | 52.4 | 32.3 | 80.6 | 1.9 | 5.0 | 6.9 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 7.3 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 73 | 24.7 | 43.0 | 37.5 | 89.2 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 7.1 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 39 | 13.5 | 40.6 | 32.5 | 81.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 6.7 |
| Patrick Beverly | 45 | 26.9 | 40.2 | 34.8 | 78.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 6.4 |
| Wenyen Gabriel | 65 | 15.1 | 59.8 | 29.4 | 61.9 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 5.6 |
| Mohammad Bamba | 7 | 11.5 | 41.7 | 33.3 | 54.5 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 4.4 |
| matt ryan | 12 | 10.8 | 30.6 | 37.1 | 80.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| Max Christie | 39 | 13.1 | 41.5 | 41.9 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 3.3 |
| Juan Toscano Anderson | 30 | 12.2 | 50.0 | 20.0 | 73.3 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| Damian Jones | 22 | 8.0 | 54.1 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| Scotty Pippen, Jr. | 6 | 5.3 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 55.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| cole swider | 6 | 6.7 | 33.3 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| davon reed | 7 | 3.7 | 75.0 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| Sterling Brown | 4 | 6.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
