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After a slow start to the LeBron James era for the Los Angeles Lakers, the new-look squad led by the three-time NBA champion may be starting to figure things out as the team draws near the 20-game mark in the 2018-19 campaign.
On Friday night, the day after the Thanksgiving Day holiday, LeBron and company went head-to-head against Donovan Mitchell's Utah Jazz who are having their fair share of struggles this season. Unfortunately for the Jazz, Mitchell didn't last long in this matchup with the Lakers as he was unable to continue after suffering a rib contusion after being on the court for about 12 minutes.
Even without their star guard leading the charge for most of this game, the Jazz was able to make it competitive. However, the Lakers were able to shut down any chance of a comeback in the fourth quarter as purple and gold came out with their 11th win of the season, 90-83
–Brandon Ingram showed some signs of life–
Along with the LeBron becoming the undisputed leader and new face of the franchise this season, one thing many expected to see this season was the emergence of Ingram as a star player in this league. Ingram has all the tools to be a force to be reckoned with as he's blessed with length, athletic ability, and has been regularly compared to superstar Kevin Durant in terms of what he may potentially become in the future.
Unfortunately, Ingram hasn't lived up to expectations at this point. He struggles to play consistently well as there's no telling what player will show up from day to day. Although this has been the case for most of the season, he did show signs of promise in Friday's win over the Jazz.
Ingram came out with an attack-mode mentality and scored 11 points in the first quarter. Mitchell was tasked with guarding Ingram to start the game and went with a physical approach which didn't work and may have resulted in him ultimately being forced to watch from the sidelines with the rib injury.
The Duke product finished with a solid all-around performance against Utah putting up a game-high 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds and two steals but did turn the ball over six times.
If Ingram can limit the turnovers and continue to play at this level, the Lakers may have that star in the making next to LeBron.
–Three-point shooting continues to be a glaring weakness–
The Lakers are not a good three-point shooting team. After tonight's win over Utah, the team is shooting 35.8 percent. The team shot 7-for-23 from beyond the arc (30.4) and that only improved due to a resurgence in the second half.
Heading into halftime, Los Angeles was a pitiful 2-for-12 from deep. Fortunately, the Jazz wasn't much better at 3-for-16 from distance. If the Lakers had shot this poorly from the three-point line against some of the top teams in the league that thrive from their efficiency in that area, Luke Walton's squad would've been blown out tonight with relative ease.
Ingram and James were the only two players on the team to make an impact from deep with both players hitting two apiece. Usually, Josh Hart is the standout on the team from three-point range, but he struggled tonight going 0-for-4.
Three-point shooting will continue to be an area of need and might only change by addressing it with a trade later in the season.
–Lonzo Ball could be turning the corner with an aggressive style of play–
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The former second-overall draft pick is a talented player. He's a versatile point guard with incredible vision and an ability to be a force defensively. However, he struggles with the balance of when to score and when to use his passing skills to the best of his ability.
In four of the first five games of this season, Ball scored in double figures and showed that he might have improved in that area. That didn't last long, though. The UCLA product went on to score 11 or more in three of the next 11 games before the matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 21.
In LeBron's return to Cleveland, Lonzo showed a new-found aggressiveness on offense which was praised by Walton after the game. Ball was in attack mode each time he touched the ball, and it made a considerable impact. He finished with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting and drew high praise from his teammates as well as Walton.
On Friday, the 21-year-old point guard was at it again. Lonzo was aggressive on offense, and although he failed to crack double digits with nine points, he showed a willingness to improve that part of his game which is a great sign moving forward. He also finished with 10 rebounds and received high marks from Walton once again.
“I thought Lonzo was great again as far as attacking the paint,” Walton said. “Ten defensive rebounds, that's the guy that helps you win a lot of ball games.”
LeBron also talked about the improved aggressiveness of Ball and Ingram.
“In order for us to be the best team we can be, they always have to be aggressive, and they did that again tonight,” James said.
–Free-throw shooting is still a problem–
Last year, the Achilles heel for the Lakers was free-throw shooting. The lack of an ability to knock down the freebies resulted in a few costly losses for Los Angeles as they tried to develop some of their talented young players.
This year, it appears to be more of the same. Although LeBron has been thrown into the mix, the perennial All-Star seems to struggle against the charity stripe more than any other part of his game. James is averaging 73.9 percent from the free-throw line which isn't ideal for a superstar player of his caliber.
As for the rest of the team, the Lakers are averaging 72.2 percent. That weakness was on display on Friday with Los Angeles shooting 11-of-18 from the free-throw line.
If the Lakers do end up ending the playoff drought, this will become a major concern for this team. Bad free-throw shooting teams do not find success in the postseason.
–Lakers consistently let inferior teams get back into games–
One of the biggest concerns for the Lakers this season seems to be closing out games. Tonight, Los Angeles was clearly the better team even when Mitchell was on the floor early in the game. However, despite getting out to an 11-point lead at one point in the contest, the Lakers couldn't hold the team at bay.
With the team being this talented with a decent mix of young and veterans players and arguably the best player in the NBA leading the way, they should not be letting inferior teams get back into games. This squad has to figure out how to get out to these big leads and finish off their opponents in dominant fashion. The Lakers may very well be their own worst enemy.
