Los Angeles Lakers: Does Game 1 Loss to Hornets Spell Doom for LA Lakers?

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Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in deep trouble

It’s too early to say it’s over, but it’s not too late to say that the Lakers are in serious trouble.

Perhaps the most glaring thing the Lakers showed the world on Sunday is that they are a suspect defense capable of plenty of mental lapses. Here’s an observation by Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN on the Lakers absolutely poor performance on defense.

Kamenetzky writes:

One common strategy when playing a dynamic point guard like Paul is to turn him into either a scorer or a distributor. One or the other, but not both. Fair to say the Lakers failed in that regard against CP3, who entered halftime with 11 points and 10 dimes, and finished with 31 points, 14 assists, seven boards and four steals. But it wasn't just Paul who hurt them. Jack was nearly as effective off the screen/roll sets, racking up five assists in 21 minutes of burn to go with 15 points. Something feels tolerable about Paul penetrating and finishing with a slick pass to Landry on the post. I suspect fans aren't quite so charitable when the combo is Jack and Gray.

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Clearly the Lakers can’t allow this to be their identity. Even if the Lakers can survive the Hornets they are likely to see either Tony Parker, or Russell Westbrook, not to mention Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, or Dwyane Wade in the Finals(clearly Wade isn’t a point guard but he is called upon often to create like a point guard).

The Lakers must find a way to play defense.

A team as old as they are has no other choice but to man up and slow down the game and the offensive barrage. If they can’t there is no reason to think Paul can’t go off like that again.

This series could break bad for the Lakers in a heartbeat. If it hasn’t already.

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