You want to believe the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten better since their early season implosion, you really do. But you can't.
Dwight Howard's play has improved a great deal since the All-Star break. He's averaging 16.6 points, 14.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in his last 17, and his mobility is easily at a season-high.
There's even a case to be made for Los Angeles' heightened sense of camaraderie and established chemistry. Bursts of competency sans Kobe Bryant left the masses convinced that the Lakers had turned a corner.
Three-quarters worth of lethargy against the Golden State Warriors says no. The version of the Lakers that fell just six points shy of overcoming an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit suggests otherwise.
Losers of their last three games, two of which were against sub.-500 factions, the Lakers find themselves just one game ahead of the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.
Amid pleas for Hollywood's finest to hurl themselves at the panic button, Bryant himself refuses to do so (via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports):
The Lakers (36-35) also felt pain with their third straight loss that caused them to lose ground for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Lakers, currently in the eighth spot, have three teams on their heels as the Utah Jazz (35-36) are a game behind, the Dallas Mavericks (34-36) trail by 1 1/2 and the Portland Trail Blazers (33-37) are 2 1/2 out.
"I've been relaxed all year," Bryant told Yahoo! Sports. "I was relaxed when we were five games out telling everybody we are going to be all right. So now we are ahead in the eighth spot and we're supposed to panic?"
Panicking isn't a desirable quality in a playoff team, and it's a foreign concept to the ever composed Black Mamba. Urgency, though? That's a necessity. And right now, the exigency of the situation isn't resonating with Los Angeles.
"Our offense was anemic," Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni said following the loss to Golden State (via Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times).
Anemic, feeble, pallid, apathetic, complacent—those are words that shouldn't be synonymous with Los Angeles. Inside of 15 games to go, they should be fighting for their postseason lives, banding together to render the critics mistaken.
The Lakers were thought to have changed because the results have changed. Heading into the break, they were 25-29. Since then they're 11-6.
Through the first 54 games of the season, Tinseltown was dropping 101.6 points (sixth), 22.2 assists (15th), shooting 45.7 percent from the floor (eighth) and 35.1 percent from deep (15th) per game. Los Angeles was also allowing 100.9 points (23rd) and coughing up the ball 14.9 times (fifth) a night. Hollywood's plus-0.7 point-differential ranked 12th as well.
To escape the expensive and unforeseen hell that became their season would be a massive undertaking. It would require Kobe and crew to resolve their deficiencies or at the very least mitigate them.
One streak that saw the Lakers win 11-of-17 later, they're back in the playoffs. Three successive losses to outfits they're supposed to be better than wasn't ideal, but their record supported Bryant's Buzz Lightyear-esque refusal to panic.
In their last 17 games, the Lakers are averaging 103.5 points, dishing out 21.4 assists, shooting 45.9 percent from the floor and 37.9 percent from three a game. They're also allowing 102.1 points and committing 13.9 turnovers per bout.
Los Angeles is scoring more points, shooting a higher percentage from the field and committing fewer turnovers but also allowing more points and passing less. The team's plus-1.4 point-differential doubles that of what they posted before the break, yet is still hardly indicative of a team that has it all figured out.
As the above graph shows us, the Lakers' stats this side of the break are almost identical to that of before it. Their record is better, but statistically, they're not.
These Lakers still allow 15.9 fast-break points per game (29th). They still relinquish 44.4 points in the paint a night (28th). They still rank 19th in defensive efficiency, 25th in points allowed (101.2), 22nd in assists (22) and 22nd in bench points (26.9). They still have the second-worst road record (13-23) of any playoff team.
We saw Kobe shoot 11-of-27 from the floor and dish out just three assists, when nearly every statistic implores him to do just the opposite.
The Lakers are 12-23 when Bryant hands out fewer than five assists, but 28-16 when the Mamba drops at least five. And they're 18-9 when he tallies at least seven.
When the Mamba attempts at least 25 shots, they're 3-11. When he hoists up at least 20, they're 14-25. But when he jacks up fewer than 20 attempts, the Lakers are 22-11.
Ready for the real kicker? Los Angeles is 19-5 when Kobe combines his deft passing (at least five assists) with a controlled trigger-finger (fewer than 20 shot attempts).
In a game where Bryant himself said he needed to get the ball to Howard more, why is he heaving 27 shots toward the rim?
He has an innate reaction to carry the Lakers when they struggle, which we can respect, but he also has an inherent desire to win. When will the latter trump the former?
We know the Lakers are better when Bryant balances facilitating with shooting, and so does he. Why would he ever stray away from following that blueprint?
Howard has attempted fewer than 10 field goals 34 times this season. In those 34 games, the Lakers are 10-24. He's also dropped fewer than 15 points on 27 occasions. Los Angeles is 10-17 in those instances.
In the 38 games Howard has scored at least 15 points, the team is 23-15. They're also 24-11 when he receives at least 10 shot attempts, and 19-6 when he takes at least 12.
"We need to figure out a way to get him some more looks down low," Bryant said after the Lakers lost to the Warriors (via Bleacher Report's Jimmy Spencer). "And I tried to step back as much as I possibly could and allow that to develop."
Yeah, the Lakers do need to find a way to get Howard involved more. And if that was Kobe taking a step back against the Warriors, he needs to take another giant leap in that same direction.
No, these Lakers are not much different from the chaotic entity we saw earlier in the season.Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Spor
Bryant shot too much. Howard wasn't involved enough on offense. They committed too many turnovers. The urgency behind the game itself doesn't resonate with them until the fourth quarter.
As for those times when they don't, well we're just supposed to sit back and buy into the notion that the Lakers are better than they were before.
*All stats used in this article were compiled from Basketball-Reference, Synergy Sports, 82games.com and NBA.com unless otherwise noted.
Via: - Liga
