The Lakers had a lousy weekend. Saturday's game was marred by an eye injury to Anthony Davis, one that has him listed as questionable for tonight's game at home vs. Atlanta. Meanwhile, the Lakers lost to Golden State, and the entire league suffered thanks to some horrible delays in replay work and a malfunctioning shot clock. I really was an ugly evening, all around.
Now, though, the Lakers find themselves in 10th place in the West, with some chance still to move up (at least to nine, if they can win some games, since they still have one more against the Warriors), and if it's going to happen, it'll be over the next stretch of games, all but a couple of which are against not just middling teams, but genuinely bad ones. Again, starting tonight with Atlanta.
The Lakers need to win these games not just because of seeding, but because nearly 70 games in, we're still not at a place where the Lakers can say they've ripped off eight wins in a row, or 10 of 12, or something that indicates a level of sustained excellence, and teams that can't do that don't win championships.
Of course, some wonder if that championship window has already been closed. Has the title era for LeBron and AD already passed? Was last year their last best shot? Did it close with the Westbrook deal? Are the Lakers in position to make the kind of improvements that are so clearly needed in order to rise to the level of the Denvers of the world?
Lots of questions to answer, even while the season carries on.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers must, must, MUST take advantage of this soft portion of the schedule if they want to move up at all in the West (and avoid letting the Rockets creep up any closer).
SEGMENT 2: Has the LeBron/Davis window closed?
SEGMENT 3: Have the Lakers really recovered from the Westbrook deal? Is it possible to build around LeBron at this stage of his career?
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