The Los Angeles Lakers remain as the leaders of the Western Conference table, but the Purple and Gold haven’t been pretty convincing in their last couple of games, raising some doubts around the league about their true capacity to win the championship next June.
One of the people that’s been pointing out to the Lakers’ flaws this season is Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen, who claimed the Lakers are unable to close games and that will cost them in the future. In an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump, Pippen explained what’s the biggest problem for the Californians.
Asked about who needs another piece between Lakers and Clippers, Scottie replied:
“Between these two teams, I’m gonna say the Lakers. They haven’t shown that they can finish games; I think a lot of games, close games, last five minutes games, where they are in games that they need that closure guy that can make big shots, take big shots and the will to go to the free-throw line and make those shots, that’s the piece I think that they need and that’s the advantage the Clippers have on them right now because they got guys like Lou Williams, Kawhi, Paul George, these three guys, they’re willing to close games and they’re willing to take big shots. If you look at the Lakers, you’re really gonna go with LeBron, AD, but they’re not guys that are known to close games.
“I’m not taking away from LeBron, LeBron has also played along with some of the best closers in the game. He’s played with Dwyane Wade, he’s played with Kyrie; you don’t have those kinds of players on this team now.”
As the trade deadline approaches, it will be interesting to see what move the Lakers are going to make. The media and the fans are rooting for them to trade for former MVP Derrick Rose, a player who’s not afraid of taking those big shots. However, the price to pay for Rose would be too high for the Lakers, who won’t let many assets go just like that.
