Lakers get blown out yet again, this time by the Spurs
Tonight, your Los Angeles Lakers took on the San Antonio Spurs in the quarterfinal round of the NBA Cup. With a chance to secure a trip to the semifinal round in Las Vegas, the Lakers came out and laid an egg. The final score was 132-119, and at no point was it close.
From the jump, LA looked like the inferior team tonight and showcased all the same issues we’ve seen in every single one of their losses this season. Let’s break down all the fun that was had tonight.
No Wemby, No Problem
Going into the game, many believed this would be an easy victory for the Lakers as the Spurs were missing their best player. Without Victor Wembanyama, this was supposed to be a cake walk. It was far from it.
The Spurs are one of the league’s worst defensive teams without Wembanyama. You couldn’t tell tonight. The Spurs both shut down most of what the Lakers tried offensively and got whatever they wanted on the other end.
LA outscored San Antonio in paint points; however, the free-throw discrepancy was horrid.
Lakers on the other end of FT discrepancy vs Spurs
The Spurs spent all night at the line tonight. San Antonio shot 36 free throws to LA’s 23. Usually, the shoe is on the other foot.
There were many missed calls against the Spurs in the first half, and this seemed to mentally affect the Lakers. Once their minds were out of it, there was a clear lack of effort throughout the remainder of the game.
Nonetheless, you can’t count on free throws to win you every game.
Another Reaves stinker
Austin Reaves had his second bad game in a row. Against the 76ers on Sunday, he only had 11 points on 3/16 shooting, and tonight he wasn’t much better.
Tonight, Reaves scored just 15 points on 6/16 shooting and turned the ball over three times.
Austin is now one of the driving forces of this team, and if the Lakers want to reach their ceiling, they can not afford nights like this from him.
Lakers’ issues on display
Los Angeles has two very glaring issues, and most fans know what they are. Not surprisingly, it seems like other teams know exactly what those are as well.
The Lakers’ defense and bench unit are simply subpar.
In order to fix this, they’ll need to trade for a player like Herb Jones and move Rui Hachimura to the bench. Otherwise, this team isn’t sniffing a conference finals appearance.
