Previously, NBA celebrity Skip said that the Lakers' mid-season championship championship is not a real champion, and they should not have a flag-raising ceremony for the championship flag!Now, even Lakers legend Shaq O'Neal has said that the midseason championship flag is just a flag, not a real championship flag!The Lakers championship flag is yellow and purple, while the midseason championship flag is black and gold. It can be seen that the outside world really doesn't particularly care about the league giants Lakers winning the midseason championship, and they don't have many championship attributes in it at all.
As everyone knows, the Lakers have spent a lot of money in order to win the first mid-season championship and overdraft their future!While the Lakers' ultimate goal of the season is to compete for a championship, and winning the midseason championship is just the icing on the cake, they have paid a lot of price for it. Because since winning the mid-season championship, the Lakers' team record has plummeted!Instead of being the invincible generals of the tournament, they have become ordinary teams that are difficult to win. So far, the Lakers' record since winning the mid-season tournament is 1-5, during which they only narrowly beat the rebuilding Spurs by three points, and the rest of the games are all in ink, and they are currently in a four-game losing streak!Obviously, the Lakers are in dire straits!They don't have the capital to continue losing, as the playoff standings have already dropped from the top six in the West to the play-in zone and are likely to be kicked out of the play-in zone soon. At the moment, the Lakers are only 0With five wins, the Warriors are in a four-game winning streak, which can be described as a rainbow, which poses a serious threat to the Lakers' ninth position.
Today, the Lakers will take on the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder on the West, and it will be another tough game. Because this season's Thunder has long ceased to be the lamb that was slaughtered in the past, but has become a real strong team that is difficult to beat!So far this season, the Thunder has achieved an 18-8 record in the West under the leadership of Alexander and Holmgren, and is far higher than the Lakers in both the team record and the Western rankings. Therefore, it is not easy for the Lakers to capture the Thunder's home court, not to mention that they are still in the midst of a four-game losing streak, which undoubtedly increases the likelihood of them losing!
In order to avoid the tragedy of five consecutive defeats, Lakers coach Darvin Ham took the initiative to change the lineup before the game, that is, to demote Russell from the starter to the bench, and let Vanderbilt replace him after returning from injury!According to Shams, the Lakers' starting lineup for the Thunder today is: James, Thick Eyebrows, Reddish, Prince, Vanderbilt. According to Shams, it was a change of formation chosen by the Lakers after a four-game losing streak, with Ham removing Russell from the starting lineup.
Having Vanderbilt start in place of Russell may weaken the team's tandem ability, after all, Russell is the team's official point guard, but the defensive ability of the starting lineup will definitely be greatly improved, after all, Vanderbilt is known for his defense!What's more, James can also make up for Russell's loss in assists to the greatest extent, which will give the Lakers more balance to the roster. The Lakers really can't accept a five-game losing streak, so Ham can only choose to wronged Russell!So, can Ham's active change of formation stop the Lakers' losing streak?Let's wait and see!