Will the Lakers even make the playoffs?
And what is shaping up to be one of the biggest Titanic sinking size of an NBA bust the Los Angeles Lakers currently find themselves 3.5 games out of even obtaining the 8th seed in the Playoffs this year. Yes, take a minute reflect it´s true, no bs here, the Lakers who are a team that has Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard is currently on track to not make the Playoffs.
Granted the Lakers suffered relatively severe injuries to both Steve Nash (hair line leg fracture) and Steve Blake (abdominal muscle tear), and changed coaches when Mike Brown was fired in favor of Mike D`Antoni, but that is still no excuse for the monstrosity of defensive efforts that the team has put in on some nights. Additionally, PF Jordan Hill has suffered a season ending hip injury. Hill was a playing very well, despite the Lakers’ painfully slow start. Furthermore Kobe Bryant led the league in scoring much of the year until Kevin Durant’s recent tirade of 40+ pt games. Oddly enough however, as has typically been the case, the Lakers lose the majority of games in which Kobe scores 30 or more points. What generally occurs in those games is that other players don’t get going because they both find themselves watching Kobe operate with the ball and cannot get it going given how much shots Kobe is taking. This is not to bad mouth Kobe, but rather an attempt to explain why the Lakers lose when Kobe goes for 30 or more.
Whether the Lakers make the Playoffs will depend mostly upon if they can stay healthy and if they can find ways of passing the ball and involving one another in the offense. Currently, Mike D´Antoni has been using Pau Gasol in strange ways but recently Gasol has managed to play his best games of the season. Dwight Howard has been bothered by shoulder injuries and is in midst of coming back to 100% after off season back surgery, but the Lakers are really going to need Howard to be healthy. Furthermore the Lakers need to do a better job of getting Howard involved offensively. There have been games where D.Howard has shot less than 8 fg´s and this is simply not acceptable. Over their last 6 games the Lakers have played very well and this is mostly due to the fact that Kobe Bryant has been upping his assist numbers. That trend will have to continue or else the Lakers will become the Titanic of the NBA.
It is this writer’s belief that at 22-26 currently in the W/L column, that these Lakers must at least go 24-10 in the remaining 34 games. Whether Dwight Howard sticks around will be largely predicated on the Lakers’ making the Playoffs and salvaging their thus far dysfunctional season..