"Lakers expose new loopholes! James complained about the referee, the 24-year-old player's injury has an obvious impact! "！
After losing 113-123 at home to Phoenix, the Lakers once again conceded more than 120 points. Against strong teams, the Lakers are still struggling to win games. Both James and coach Ham criticized the referee's approach after the game. In this game, the Lakers only got eight free throws, and in the second half, they didn't even get a single penalty. The Suns scored 18 points on 19-of-18 free throws, while the Lakers scored just four points on 8-of-4 free throws.
However, in this game, the Lakers didn't just miss their free throws, but more importantly, they lost rebounds. In this game, the Lakers won 34-51, 17-17, 3-14, and 11-11.
Grabbing rebounds has been the Lakers' biggest weakness this season, especially when two core players are injured and neither Vanderbilt nor Wood is available.
The Lakers' rebounds were dominated by Brown and James, who scored 14 and 7 rebounds respectively, while the rest of the Lakers players combined for 13 and performed poorly.
Hachimura was very effective on the offensive end, but he never became a rebounding player. Despite being a center in the box, Hachimura isn't as good as many defenders when it comes to rebounding. In this game, Hachimura grabbed 4 rebounds and his scoring average this season is 38, worse than Reeves on the defensive end, with an average of 39 pcs.
Another Lakers forward Prince also faces a big problem, which is that he averages 30 rebounds. Earlier, the Lakers had let Prince play the start, but it was also because he grabbed a rebound. Now Hachimura is in the starting position, and this shortcoming of the Lakers is constantly being revealed.
The Lakers' current best starting power forward is Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has just returned from injury this season and his performances have started to improve, playing an average of 20 minutes and contributing five2 points, 48 rebounds, 12 assists, 12 steals. He contributed an average of 6. in six appearances2 points, 50 rebounds, 17 steals. Vanderbilt has a stronger rebounding ability, and he also has a stronger interception ability, which means that neither Hachimura nor Prince can see enough in front of him.
Vanderbilt is also charismatic on the court, he's always full of energy and does all the dirty work, just like Hacimla and Prince. Unfortunately Vanderbilt has only recently recovered from injury**, and his foot injury has left him uncertain if he will need a surgery**, which will also take him out of competition this season.
It's clear that the Lakers will lose Vanderbilt. Last season, when the Lakers closed the transfer window, Vanderbilt played a small role as the starting power forward. This season, the Lakers want to make the playoffs, or go further, but they still have to rely on Vanderbilt to stay in good shape to keep them in shape at the start of the season.
In addition, Lakers backup forward Wood also missed the game due to injury, and he averaged 51 rebound. Wood's defense has always been criticized, but rebounding is pretty good. With the absence of Vanderbilt and Wood, the Lakers' performance in grabbing boards has dropped significantly. The Lakers are averaging 42. per game this seasonWith 3 rebounds and 22nd in the league, it's a huge trap for the Lakers.