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LOS ANGELES – On Friday night at the Staples Center, the struggling Los Angeles Lakers faced the mammoth task of taking on the red-hot Milwaukee Bucks who are led by arguably this season's MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Following a win over Anthony Davis' New Orleans Pelicans, the LeBron James-led squad were showing signs of life with some much-needed effort defensively and Brandon Ingram becoming a legitimate scoring threat consistently. The Lakers came into this game against the Bucks looking to make a statement, and they were well on their way to doing just that as they led by as much as 12 points.
Unfortunately, James and Ingram chipping in with a combined 62 points and Rajon Rondo coming one assist and two rebounds shy of a triple-double simply wasn't enough to take down the team with the league's best record. Los Angeles fell to Milwaukee, 131-120.
Although this marks the 32nd loss to the season and was another blow to their playoff hopes, there are some positives to be taken out of the recent stretch by this team moving forward.
LeBron James And Company Are Showing Some Energy
During their losses to the Pelicans last week and Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week, the Lakers seriously lacked the energy on both ends of the floor to get wins on the road. They lost to two of the worst teams in the league this season who benefit more from losing that pulling out wins as they did against this team.
However, that energy was evident when they faced the Pelicans for the second time. These players got after it defensively and even though New Orleans played better than expected, especially the effort from former Laker Julius Randle (35 points), Luke Walton's squad was determined to make a statement with some energy which has been sorely missed from this team.
That energy carried over to Friday's game in which the Lakers gave the top-seeded Bucks all they could handle. Enough energy on both ends of the floor that Giannis was held to an uncharacteristic 16 points.
LeBron talked about what the team can take from the loss to propel the team forward for Saturday's game against the Phoenix Suns.
“Listen, it's win or lose,” James said. “That's it. Obviously, you want to build, but it's win or lose in that moment. I'm a guy who kind of lives in the present. So, tomorrow, we have to be great tomorrow against Phoenix. We can't say, ‘Okay, we were great for three and a half quarters against Milwaukee. We can carry that to Phoenix.'
“No, we can't do that. We have to be great against Phoenix and hit the restart button.”
Despite the loss to Milwaukee, Los Angeles is trending up with some effort that should not go unnoticed, especially with all the negativity and uncertainty surrounding this struggling franchise.
Brandon Ingram Is Coming Into His Own
One of the most positive aspects of the Lakers latest surge in energy and effort is the play of Brandon Ingram.
The third-year forward has been under the microscope this season with the Lakers having high hopes for the talented 21-year-old. Ingram has seen both ends of the spectrum this season in terms of criticism and praise going from a player that fans want to be traded to the promise of being that star player that can flourish next to LeBron in Los Angeles.
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Although Ingram's game still needs a lot of polish with an emphasis on being a better perimeter shooter, the aggressiveness of this Duke product has reached another level as of late, especially on the offensive end of the floor. Ingram has consistently shown the aggressiveness with the basketball that many of the league's great scorers have on a nightly basis, and he's only getting better from game to game.
“Just continuing to be aggressive,” Ingram said of his recent success. “I think of it like me growing up as a kid, just playing basketball, so I always go back to that feeling and how I dreamed of being here. It's just been fun for me to get out on the floor and just be aggressive and go at my defender all the time, rebound the basketball and enjoy playing with my teammates.”
On Friday, he poured in 31 points on 13-for-21 shooting. It wasn't until the third quarter that he missed a shot as he started the game perfect from the field going 9-for-9 before the first miss which was ironically a three-point attempt. Ingram also added eight rebounds and didn't turn the ball over once during yet another solid performance.
Over the course of the last seven games, Ingram has scored 19 or more points while looking a lot more comfortable with the basketball in his hands. He's scored over 30 twice in the last three games and may be starting to take over as the second-best option on offense behind James.
Team Is Starting To Figure Out Who They Are
In my opinion, the one thing the team has been missing is effort and the passion for playing at a high level on a nightly basis. That seems to be turning around, and it might be too late to salvage their season in terms of ending the playoff drought, but they aren't out of the running just yet and sustaining this level of play could be enough to make a run.
With Ingram beginning to showing signs of being a dominant force offensively and the team seemingly starting to rally around LeBron and his supposed playoff mode activation, a disappointing end to the 2018-19 NBA season might not be on the horizon.
Walton talked about the standings and the team's current position with the playoffs right around the corner.
“We're aware of it,” Walton said. “We don't try to harp on it too much. As I always say, the way we're going to be at our best is if we stay present and keep our mindset on what we're doing. Practice, game, day-by-day, that's how we'll get to it, and we want to get to it, but the group is very aware of where we're at and what needs to happen.”
Ending the five-year playoff drought should be the primary motivation for this team regardless of what may happen this summer. If the Lakers continue to play like they have the last two games and play for one another, the postseason may be a realistic destination while potentially creating a solid unit that might not be expendable once the season ends.
