Lakers umpteenth catastrophe

You can not get something out of nothing. The Lakers are shipwrecked again, again in a tight finish. It is the umpteenth catastrophe of a team that does not give for more, he can’t beat anyone and he only wins when he has big enough advantages so as not to have to depend on the non-existent magic of a very green coach, the misunderstanding and embarrassment of a base that goes hand in hand, no matter how many numbers he does, the most absolute disaster; and a star who, at 38 years old and in his 20th season in the NBA, cannot take charge of an entity bent on doing evil and living on the income of an increasingly distant past. Ignoring the options of a present with light (few) green shootsbut unable to start with such a fair squad and currently faced with injuries and the impossibility of creating reliable quintets with which the balance can be tipped depending on what situation.

Against the Kings, more of the same. A similar story usually gives an almost always similar ending. The surprises when the play is coming to an end have remained in Hollywood movies and they have abandoned a Lakers capable of everything in the past, incapable of everything in the present. Doomed to failure and with a 20-25 record that does not improve and that leaves them in the third from last place in the Western Conference, 1.5 victories from a play-in that they will always have a shot due to the non-appearance of other people’s rivals, but without reaching it at any time. As if they threatened to take off all the time but didn’t. Because, ultimately, they are totally incapable of doing it. It is simply, the truth.

LeBron James once again produced extraordinary numbers (32 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists) in almost 37 minutes on the track, but once again he ended up exhausted and with an improper management of Ham’s minutes for someone who has been in the NBA for longer than outside of it. Russell Westbrook’s thing is something else: 19+7+5 and 8 points in the last quarter, but ineffective in the last minutes, unable to manage important moments and missing 4 of his last 5 shots in an embarrassing shot selection and decisions inexplicable in crucial situations. During the second part, Ham’s plan consisted of trying to win the game by giving the ball in all attacks to a reviled player and a truly older starwho ends up exhausted in games and abuses ridiculous three-pointers (2 of 9 against the Kings) given the impossibility of continuing to penetrate due to obvious fatigue.

Ham lined up quintets in the fourth quarter that included Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn and Russell Westbrook, gave nearly the entire fourth quarter to Westbrook and LeBron, He did not know how to make his team react after the timeouts and brought players like Juan Toscano-Anderson to attack after a break. Incomprehensible decisions that ended up condemning the Angelenos. James tied the match with 1:10 to go (108-108) with a 2+1 contested by another from Harrison Barnes. A foul by Toscano on De’Aron Fox increased the visitors’ advantage (108-112). And a triple by Nunn, in which there could have been an uncalled foul (the referees were erratic at the end), gave the Angels hope. But there was no way: an expeditious foul by Max Christie on Richaun Holmes when he had already crossed the middle of the field and was walking alone towards the basket was called unsportsmanlike. The two free throws without a miss and the other two by Trey Lyles sentenced the duel. Another one that eluded the Lakers.

In the Kings, there were 20 points from Barnes, 10+10 from Keegan Murray, 16+11 from Richaun Holmes, 18, with 8 assists (and a key triple defended very poorly by the Lakers) from Kevin Huerter, 10 from Lyles from the dock and 31 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists from Fox, the best of the night. But it doesn’t matter: LeBron tried everything in the last quarter (5+6+7 only in that period), but couldn’t make it in front of the basket (1 of 7, with 0 of 3 in triples), with predictable attacks in the who found his teammates, but could not penetrate because of the defense of the Kings. The Lakers, who are what they are, will now face the Grizzlies and have 4 losses in the last 5 games. The good thing is that at this point no one is surprised anymore. A team that does not manage its finals, with a huge number of injuries, with structural problems such as franchise and sports staff and bench. In other words: a bad team.