The Los Angeles Lakers continued to disappoint after some dismal performances in the bubble. Frank Vogel’s team struggled to keep up with the Portland Trail Blazers and dropped the first game of the series 100-93 despite owning the best record in the Western Conference.
LeBron James recorded a triple-double with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 16 assists and Anthony Davis chipped in with 28 and 11 rebounds despite some efficiency issues.
The rest of the Lakers, however, vastly underperformed in the most important game of the season, combining for 5/32 shooting from beyond the arc, 20/31 from the free-throw line, and 35.1% shooting overall. They had 17 offensive rebounds and just 9 turnovers but couldn’t buy a bucket all night long.
That’s why the guys from Supreme Dreams made a hilarious parody video about how LeBron was looking at his teammates after their tough loss in Game 1, getting into Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green’s nerves because of their terrible performance.
https://twitter.com/SupremeDreams_1/status/1295969268794830849
Green scored 10 points on 4/12 shooting (2/8 from three) and had some good defense, especially in the clutch but his shot is still ice cold and struggled to hit open looks all night long. Caldwell-Pope, on the other hand, scored 1 point in 0/9 shooting and a horrid 0/5 from three despite playing 29 minutes.
It’s clear that Frank Vogel must make a couple of adjustments. The Lakers continue to struggle on offense, yet he only played Dion Waiters 1 minute and JR Smith didn’t even set foot on the court. Something’s gotta give and they have to execute better.
The Blazers’ defense isn’t exactly the best in the league and the Lakers may not miss 27 three-pointers again in the series but their role players must step up when it matters most. You can’t play almost 30 minutes a night and go 0/9 from the field.
