The Lakers Should Be in Panic Mode, They Are In Deep Trouble.
The Los Angles Lakers may be in deep trouble after an embarrassing loss the shorthanded Toronto Raptors have now dropped them to the 7th seed in the Western Conference. They are now in the mix for the Play-in Tournament which I’m sure is not what LeBron James and Anthony Davis envisioned for the team after winning the 2019 NBA Championship. This Lakers season has been a disaster as the team has been riddled with injuries to both their star players which have caused them to only play a total of 25 games together this season. Time is now running out with only a handful of games left in the regular season and the Lakers are trending in the wrong direction, so is it time to panic.
At first even with Injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, there was optimism that the Lakers would be okay, once their two stars got back on the court and started to dominate the competition. But they are not dominating the competition at all. Since Anthony Davis’s return, the Lakers are 1-5, and the teams they are losing to arent exactly powerhouses. It’s clear that AD is not fully healthy and the Lakers are suffering because of that however they still had LeBron James to lean on. But LeBron isn’t looking like himself either and time is against their side to pull things together.
It’s Panic Time in LA and Everyone Know’s It
Things just keep getting worse for the Lakers as Dennis Schroder who is a key piece in the rotation is now out for 10-14 days due to the NBA health and safety protocols. They’re going to seriously miss him because the Laker’s next five opponents are all motivated and these games aren’t going to be easy. The Nuggets, Clippers, TrailBlazers, Suns, and Knicks are all teams that are still playing for seeding and playing to avoid the Play-in Tournament. LeBron was once a fan of this tournament but now that reality is setting in that he may have to take part in it he is furious stating “Whoever came up with that s–t needs to be fired,” to reporters after their loss to the Raptors.
The Lakers were once the top dogs in the western conference and the most feared team to be matched up against in the postseason but now there’s a chance they might even miss the playoff’s all together! Both their star players are struggling on the court and they are saying things that should have all Lakers fans worried. LeBron gave a quote to ESPN about returning from the ankle injury he suffered against the Hawks that kept him sidelined for 19 games.
“I knew I wasn’t going to get back to 100%. It’s impossible,” “I don’t think I will ever get back to 100% in my career.”
LeBron James
This is definitely not something his teammates or Laker fans want to hear from the player that the entire organization depends on to basically be superhuman. Anthony Davis also told reporters “This is the lowest we’ve been … But the only way is up”. But Davis is wrong the Lakers have a chance to hit an even lower point than where they are right now.
Do The Lakers Have Time To Figure This Out
Each of the eight games that the Lakers have left of their regular season will be very important to how far this team will be able to go in the postseason. Most of the teams above them in the standings like the Clippers and Suns are firing on all cylinders at this point while the teams surrounding them in the Play-in tournament are all determined to claim the 7th or 8th seed. Only time will tell if the Lakers are going to pull things together and prove their doubters wrong. While in many past cases it has been unwise to bet against what LeBron James is capable of doing, this season is starting to feel different because the Lakers are running out of time.
If neither he nor AD is able to produce at an elite level the Lakers have no shot at reaching the NBA Finals to defend their championship. LeBron is 36 years old coming off an ankle injury and one of the shortest offseason of his career, at a certain point it may be too much to overcome. It may be panic time for the Los Angles Lakers and their postseason outlook is starting to look worse and worse with each loss they endure.
