LeBron, Quinn Cook Shine in Loss to Indiana

Final Score: LAL 111 IND 116 [L] (51-18)

In a parallel universe, this would be the final score in the 2000 NBA Finals with Reggie Miller's Pacers winning against the Kobe-Shaq Lakers in 6. All jokes aside, the Lakers drop another game in the bubble. At least they made this a game, that's all I can say.

LeBron James and Quinn Cook showed out for this one. 'Bron racked up 31 points and Cook came off the bench and scored 21 points. 3-point shooting has been the Achilles heel for the Lakers since entering the bubble, shooting under 30%. This game, it was better but not much and we got Cook to thank for that as he shot 5-9 from deep.

I didn't get to see much of the game. By the time I tuned in, the Lakers built a 59-54 lead at half. Looking at the highlights though, it was tight throughout. In some spurts, the Pacers made a run for it, especially at the end of Q1. But, the Lakers stormed right back. It was tight throughout the 2nd half. But, Indiana pulled it out at the end. If Fantasy Basketball was still around, T.J. Warren would've won folks a lot of championships. He's averaging 35 PPG in this bubble.

The biggest headline in this game was that Anthony Davis only tallied 8 points with 3-14 shooting. Stan Van Gundy noted that AD struggled with Indy's double team this game. Not too mention, he tried to play "hero ball" in the final seconds of the 4th. I'm hoping this is the case that AD threw this game away just to avoid injury. 

The Lakers will go as far into the playoffs as LBJ and AD can take them. Literally, they are the offense. Teams will take note of this come playoff time on how to slow down Anthony Davis. Like I said, we can hope he's not showing much of his cards at this point. 

Overall, effort was good this game, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Remember when Frank Vogel coached the Pacers to the #1 seed in the East in 2014? They struggled in the playoffs against teams they should've beaten with ease before succumbing to Miami in 6 in the Conference Finals. We hope that this is not the case because the playoff road is looking tough for this team. They got two more seeding games to iron things out with Denver and Sacramento up next. I'll see you guys later.

Lakers Drop 4-Game Road Trip Opener vs. Pacers

*Stats courtesy of NBA.com*

Brook Lopez was the Lakers' top performer with 23 points and 8 rebounds to go with 3 assists and 2 blocks, but could not pull it out as they fall to the Pacers 100-110 to open up their 4-game road trip. Kyle Kuzma lead all starters in scoring with 27 points to go with 8 rebounds, Julius Randle racked up 21 points and 9 rebounds, and KCP added 12 points and 7 rebounds. I.T. lead the 2nd unit in scoring with 11 points.

Final Score: @ Indiana 100-110 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20180319/LALIND#/recap

Next Game: @ New Orleans (03/22)

Highlights: *courtesy of Rapid Highlights*

Classic example of a game starting with a bang and ending with a dud. The Lakers had a really good first quarter, capping it off with an 8 point lead. The game got even during the 2nd quarter and then, the Pacers just pulled away late in the third quarter. The starting front court was the big plus with Lopez, Randle, and Kuzma putting up 20+ points each. The problem was, they couldn't stop the back court of Oladipo and Collison. Based on the full article, they wrecked the Laker defense by driving and setting teammates up for high percentage shots. Myles Turner and Thaddeus Young were the beneficiaries on that. It also didn't help that the bench got outscored 13-30. Lance Stephenson lead the way for the Pacers bench with 16 points and he was also key for Indiana pulling away throughout the rest of the game. The Laker back court as a whole struggled again with I.T., Zo, and KCP having off nights shooting the ball. Zo in particular continues to crash back down to earth as a scorer. That'll be the biggest emphasis of improvement Zo has to focus on in the offseason. The Lakers are back to a losing skid again. That's been a recurring theme this season. The Lakers will compile together a winning streak. And then some time later, they will skid off with a losing streak. The Lakers faced their longest skid when they rode a 9-game losing streak prior to the New Year. The last thing the Lakers need is an underwhelming finish to an improving season. They really need Ingram back to settle things down before it gets ugly.