The Los Angeles Lakers currently have a poor record, sitting 10th in the Western Conference with an 18-19 record, on the verge of the play-in tournament, and the situation is very embarrassing. They suffered four straight losses, losing to the Heat, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, and Pelicans. However, in a crucial game, they unexpectedly beat the Clippers, who had won five in a row, and James and Bushy Eyebrows were even better than the Ka Pepper combination.
James managed to suppress Leonard, making him shoot 0-of-6, and the defensive threat of Lao Zhan was still very strong. In addition, the new additions have also shown excellent performances and added a lot of energy to the team. Although the Lakers have been full of talent at the front this season, the pressure on the forward line has fallen on James' shoulders amid Hachimura's injury absence and Reddish and Vanderbilt's sluggish performances. However, the selection of Hachimura's substitute selection, who was temporarily unplayable, became a key issue.
Luckily, Wood stepped up and did an excellent job of relieving the pressure on the forward line to score. Wood has been excellent in both scoring and rebounding in recent games. In the game with the Spurs, he efficiently got 17 points + 8 rebounds + 3 assists + 1 steal + 2 blocks, and in the game against the Heat, he had an excellent performance of 13 points + 8 rebounds + 3 assists + 2 blocks. And in the games against the Grizzlies and Clippers, Wood also had good performances.
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue also bluntly pointed out that the three tall players of James, Thick Eyebrows and Wood have caused them a lot of trouble. According to NBA reporters, Wood has grabbed 181 rebounds in 169 shots this season, and he can be called one of the most important rebounders on the Lakers' bench lineup.
In an interview, Wood said: "I'm similar to James and Bushy Eyebrows, we can play at the same time to switch defenses, and I can help Bushy Eyebrows grab rebounds in the help position. "Lakers recruit Wood has always been a great scorer, averaging 16 per game when he played off the bench with the Mavericks last season7 points, he's been a great performer relative to a role player.
This season, Wood joined the Lakers with a base salary and chose to start on the defensive end, completely changing his defensive habits, showing a strong defensive attitude and winning games for the Lakers. According to Lakers reporters, Wood has a defensive efficiency of 108 this season0, ranked 19th in the league, he became the Lakers' best defensive role player. Wood walked the talk, changed his defensive habits, and showed strong defensive prowess to help James and Bushy lead the team to victory.
Wood joined the Lakers and was reborn, showing the strongest defensive strength of his career, becoming the right-hand man of James and Bushy Brother both offensively and defensively. Meanwhile, Lakers players Vincent and Hachimura are both recovering from injury, and the Lakers announced the signing of new signing Skyler Mays, who has averaged 6. per game for the Trail Blazers this season3 points +18 rebounds +36 assists.
At present, the Lakers still need to adjust the run-in, the whole team must maintain offensive aggressiveness, just like against the Clippers, head coach Ham must lead the team to maintain the winning streak, improve the Lakers' record, in order to stabilize his position.