Chris Humphreys-US Presswire
Los Angeles Lakers were left dumb founded last night with yet another defeat to their co-tenants as Mike D’Antoni needs to come up with a plan immediately.
If the season finished today the Lakers would not be in the play-offs and the Los Angeles Clippers are second in the Western Conference, no you are not having a nightmare Laker fans.
There seems to be no end to the struggles of the Lakers this season and 38 points from Kobe Bryant and a double-double from both Steve Nash and Dwight Howard was not enough to get past the Clippers at the Staples Center.
During the Lakers back to back championship winning years their promo was, ‘Prepare as one. Work as one. Play as one.’ Maybe someone needs to remind the current roster of this as the difference in teams is as vast as what the stage between the Lakers and Clippers once was.
It must be hard for Kobe who continues to lead his side whilst the rest of his team mates are sitting back and watching the future hall of famer. The Black Mamba, who is new to the twitter world played almost 44 minutes scoring 38 points from 15-25 shooting from the field including a monster one handed dunk on Chris Paul.
Nash tried his best as well to rally his team scoring 12 points including three from four from behind the arc. Jordan Hill was another positive note for the Lakers who need his energy and hustle and bustle to be transferred to other team mates. He finished with 13 points, seven rebounds one block and importantly no turnovers.
However the negative points far out-weigh the highlights, Pau Gasol once again adding fuel to some fans demands to see a trade. After ending talks with D’Antoni stating that he was never to be on the bench again as games end, you would expect his work rate and productivity increased, it was not to be last night.
Gasol’s quarter by quarter production were as follows: 1st Q – 2 points on 1-3, 1 assist, 0 rebounds, 1 block, 1 foul in 8:32 minutes. 2nd Q – 0 points on 0-1, 0 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 foul in 8:37 minutes. 3rd Q – 0 points on 0-2, 0 rebounds, 1 assist. 4th Q – Nothing but donuts.
Metta World Peace was another disappointment as he saw his game end after being fouled out of the game finishing with just two points, and 0-4 from the three point range.
The biggest issue continues to be the biggest issue once again. The Clippers got the best out of the Lakers inside the paint outscoring them by 52-36.
What is frustrating to all of the Lakers fans must be felt by Kobe, it doesn’t matter how confident and skilfully he plays he must be looking at his current team mates and wondering what it will take for them to get out of this slump.
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