The Lakers Are Failing Lebron James
From the weirdest night in recent NBA memory to the Lakers failing Lebron James, here is everything I noticed from last night around the association.
What The Hell Happened In The NBA Last Night?
There are always weird things to talk about on any given night in the NBA. However, last night might have topped the list in terms of weirdness. From historically bad shooting to the worst starters I’ve ever seen, we might have witnessed the weirdest day in recent NBA history.
New York’s Starters vs Bench
It’s no secret that the New York Knicks are a mess. Their spending spree in free agency has netted them mediocrity, not success. Perhaps the most confusing thing about the Knicks this season has been the dynamic between their starters and bench. You expect your starters to be the best part of your team, but that’s not the case with the Knicks.
The bench is constantly having to dig the Knicks out of double-digit leads. Leads that the starters create by simply being bad. Look at the Knicks’ starting lineup plus/minus this season;
Julius Randle: -137 plus/minus
Kemba Walker: -109 plus/minus
RJ Barrett: -95 plus/minus
Evan Fournier: -95 plus/minus
Mitchell Robinson: -52 plus/minus
The Knicks’ starting lineup has been awful this season. I still can’t wrap my head around why they are so bad, but that’s for another day. While the Knicks won last night against the lowly Pistons, we might have seen a once-in-a-lifetime event occur.
What the hell is this? The bench was the reason the Knicks won this game. The starters couldn’t be effective even though they were going against Derrick Walton Jr. and Luka Garza. The bench once again had to swoop in to save the day.
But that wasn’t even the craziest thing about this occurrence. If you look at the bench, you will see Miles McBride, the rookie from West Virginia. 0 points with a +39 plus/minus.
That’s the 2nd highest plus/minus ever for a player who didn’t score a single point. On December 16th, 2015, Andrew Bogut had a +42 plus/minus when he was on the Warriors, playing just 21 minutes.
Not making a single shot but being this effective is crazy. In that 2015 game, Andrew Bogut didn’t even attempt a shot. The NBA is incredibly weird.
This game might sum up the Knicks’ starters vs bench dynamic best. It doesn’t make any sense.
Boston’s Historically Bad Shooting (ft. Jaylen Brown)
That thing with the Knicks was weird, but this might top that. The Celtics are again struggling in every facet. Covid has run through their team, leaving no clover unturned in their quest to ruin Boston’s season. The Celtics were thin entering last night’s contest against the Clippers.
Losers of their last two games, a date with the PG-less Clippers sounded enticing. But in the year of our lord 2021, nothing is for certain. Not only did the Celtics lose, managing just 82 points, they lost excruciatingly.
Let’s start with the shooting, which was historically bad. With the NBA turning into a 3-PT shootout, you’re bound to see bad shooting nights from teams. Teams like and die by the 3-PT line, so by that logic, you’re bound to lose some games because of poor shooting. That makes sense.
We’ve seen our fair share of terrible shooting nights from teams in the past. The Rockets missed 27 straight threes in the 2018 Western Conference Finals. On December 20th, 2012, the Denver Nuggets went 0/20 from downtown. Just this season, the Rockets, again, shot 4/42 from 3-PT range (8.9%).
The Celtics weren’t worse than the Rockets, but they came pretty damn close. The Celtics shot;
4/42 (9.5%) From The 3-PT Line
The Celtics put up the second-worst shooting performance of all-time of teams who have shot 40+ threes in a game.
Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, and Romeo Langford were a combined 0/15 from outside. Boston couldn’t buy looks from outside, culminating in an ugly loss.
Jaylen Brown’s Ugly Night ((Don’t) Party Like It’s 19998)
Sorry Celtics fans, you’re night of suffering is not done yet. Not only did you have one of the worst shooting nights in NBA history, but your lone All-Star on the floor also suffered a poor night.
Jaylen Brown’s stat line of 30 points and 8 rebounds looks innocent at a glance. That’s before we take a deeper dive into the numbers. Jaylen Brown scored thirty points last night. It took him a whopping 36 field-goal attempts to achieve that mark.
Not only did Brown shoot just 36% (13/36) from the field, but he also didn’t register an assist, which puts him in some weird company.
Not exactly the best company to be joining. Back in 1998, Antoine Walker did the same thing, only he scored 49 points (a career-high) and lost by just two points. A young Chris Webber outdueled him with 30 points in that game. Dana Barros missed the potential game-winning 3-pointer down the stretch of that game. Just a bit of useless NBA meandering for you.
The Celtics are going through it right now.
The Lakers Are Wasting Lebron James
Lebron James is experiencing some sort of alien resurgence. Lebron turned 37 years old today. At this point, most NBA players are on their last legs. Lebron does not agree with such transgressions. He’s casually changed playstyles on a dime, not skipping a beat in terms of production.
It makes no sense how this guy is doing this in his 19th season. James has been brilliant, holding up a Lakers team that slowly crumbles around him. Over the past six games, James has been other-worldly. The results for him are certainly there, but not for his team.
While injuries & Covid have slowed the Lakers down, there’s a more flagrant reason as to why they are free-falling in the Western Conference standings;
LEBRON HAS NO DAMN HELP
I don’t think people understand how bad the help LeGM has been. Let’s look at three key Lakers’ role players in December.
Lakers Role Players in December
Carmelo Anthony
11.5 points / 52% TS / 24/75 3-PT / -0.5 plus/minus
Wayne Ellington
6.0 points / 50% TS / 20/60 3-PT / -4.2 plus/minus
Talen Horton-Tucker
9.6 points / 43% TS / 5/33 3-PT / -3.4 plus/minus
Both Melo and THT have fallen off of Hollywood-sized cliffs since the start of the season. THT started the season off by shooting 40% from 3. Since then, he’s shooting 15% from distance. Melo shot 52% from long-range in October. In the two months following, that figure is down to 35%.
So while Lebron has been excellent, the help around him hasn’t been great. Only Reaves, Monk, and Bradley are producing.
Finding stability with their bench production is the key for the Lakers. It’s come to no one’s surprise that relying on Russell Westbrook consistently is a risky endeavor. Until the Lakers get a bench, the same consistency problems will haunt them all year long.
Zach Lavine Is A Smooth Operator
Smoothness is fun to watch in the NBA. Some players in the NBA make their jobs look too easy. Examples of this are Ray Allen, Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker. They are just too smooth for the rest of us. Zach Lavine has entered into this realm of smoothness.
His handles, efficiency, and athleticism are the perfect blend. He’s one of the best scorers in the league that doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. Albeit against the Hawks’ G-League team last night, Lavine was excellent again, continuing a stellar 2022 campaign.
Smooooooooooooth
If you looked up effortless, this would be the result.
26.3 points – 5.1 rebounds – 62% TS – 50% FG/42% 3-PT/84%FT
More reasons to like Zach Lavine;
- Great hair
- Lavine is one of four guards to take 170+ shots inside the restricted zone this season. He is first in efficiency (70%)
- This season, 16 players have taken over 120 mid-range jump shots. Lavine ranks 7th in efficiency (47%)
- 20 players this season average 3.0+ isolation possessions per game. Lavine is t-3rd in points per possession (1.08) – 7th in FG% (45%) – and 6th in score freq% (47%)
- Lavine is shooting 45% on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. That is 11th in the league amongst the 128 qualified C&S shooters this season.
Zach Lavine is a smooth operator, no matter how you slice it.
What Are Your Thoughts From Last Night’s Games? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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