The past week was dedicated to the buzz in downtown Atlanta as it built up to Super Bowl Sunday. But like always, the NBA just has to find its way to steal the thunder of the NFL and make headlines. Such that the NBA trade deadline is near. One blockbuster trade after another, the Lakers' quest for Anthony Davis continues to dominate headlines. The Lakers made competitive offers by giving up the entire roster outside of LeBron to get AD. But the Pelicans front office wouldn't budge due to outside sources telling them not to give him to the Lakers. Hmmm, why aren't they fined for tampering? There's no question, it is deal or no deal for Purple and Gold Royalty down to the final few days before the deadline. Especially it comes at a crucial time when they face their toughest stretch yet that blocks them from returning to glory. As trade talks swirl for now, the Lakers take center stage in this week's Weekly Roundup.
01/29: vs. Philadelphia 121-105 [L] (26-25)
HIGHLIGHTS
Talk about a breakout performance from Brandon Ingram as he exploded on this game with 36 points on 16-20 shooting. Good stuff B.I. But, that is irrelevant considering Philly's "Trust the Process" movement moved in and took what they wanted in LA. LakeShow's Delicious Turnovers were in business early on this game as the Lakers murdered themselves to death by their own turnovers to start. The 76ers were definitely the best customers for the night as they capitalized for points off turnovers. If it helps us sleep at night, the 76ers manhandled the Warriors at Oracle on Thursday.
01/31: @ LA Clippers 123-120 (OT) [W] (27-25)
HIGHLIGHTS
The Lakers are one more loss away from being at .500 and they are a few games back behind the Clippers for the 8th spot in the West. And still there's no sight of LeBron nearing a return as he's also ruled out for this-*sees headline that LeBron is back.* Never mind, it's the return of the King baby! "LeBron ex Machina" is going to come save the day and lead the Lakers back into contention! The Lakers get another big boost with the return of KuzMania! They're just missing Zo, but this team is good enough to compete at the least. We have LeBron back! Back in December, the Clippers beat a LeBron-less Lakers. Now, it's time to pay them back and show them who's the real LA team! The Lakers ballooned the lead in the 2nd half. Only to watch it squander in front of their faces. Ah even with King James' return, it's good to see that some things don't change, such as the Lakers blowing a big lead in the 4th quarter and heading into OT. Both teams tried to hand each other W's at the end of regulation, but they pulled the trigger on each other a little too soon with some boneheaded plays off timeouts. Fortunately, the Clippers showed that they are still the Clippers as their top free throw shooters miss some key free throws down the stretch and Tobias Harris threw up some bricks. Even at near full strength, the Lakers are in deep trouble if they teams like the Clippers hang around. This is why we can't have nice things.
02/02: @ Golden State 101-115 [L] (27-26)
HIGHLIGHTS
Before we dive into this game, LeBron James was healthy scratch for this. The reason? Load Management? That's the actual DNP for LeBron. Gregg Popovich did this a few years ago when he gave Tim Duncan a DNP because he's "old." But, load management? Why? Is it because simply saying "DNP - Rest" too mainstream? Understandably so, LeBron came back after significant time off. And they played until overtime the previous night against the Lakers. So that urged the Lakers' coaching staff to monitor him to ensure he gets back to 100%. Abandoned by the King yet again, the Lakers arrive to Oakland to challenge the Golden State gods in the Trial of Oracle. The Lakers fought valiantly, eventually building an 11 point lead in the third quarter against the Golden State gods. Even better, Steph, the god of Rainbow Threes lost his touch. Rarely do we see that. All was going well until the DeMarcus, the Emotional Lesbian god struck KuzMania in holy baptism. Thus, the Golden State gods decided they had enough and disposed of the Lakers easily in the fourth quarter. At least we can cling onto the fact that the Lakers blew the Golden State gods out by 27 on Christmas Day, which is still the largest margin of victory by either team head-to-head this season.
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