The Los Angeles Lakers have lost two of their last three games after defeating the Toronto Raptors last Thursday.
Still, the franchise can take solace in the fact that they’re 11 games above.500 and have four winnable road games upcoming (twice against the Phoenix Suns, the Utah Jazz, and the Los Angeles Clippers).
That said, Lake Show Life’s Tyler Watts believes that the Lakers have a major Austin Reaves and LeBron James problem that must be solved sooner rather than later.
“King James has shifted his offensive game at 41 years old,” Watts wrote Thursday. “He is reliant on his jumper, and it has slowed down Reaves. AR is used to LeBron getting into the paint and kicking out to him. The shift has made the ball a bit stickier and has Reaves searching for his offense.”
“The Los Angeles Lakers can’t compete with the best teams without an elite Austin Reaves. He is struggling when playing next to LeBron James, and the two stars must solve the problem ASAP.”
“They have defensive issues and are not getting Reaves going offensively. Fans should be watching this issue closely. Hopefully, it gets resolved quickly, but the fix may not be that simple.”
Reaves was on an offensive tear when James was sidelined for 14 games due to sciatica. The Oklahoma product's high level of confidence enabled him to notch 25+ points nightly.
With James back in the Lakers’ lineup, though, Reaves has looked out of sorts on the offensive end, unnecessarily forcing the issue at times and failing to operate with the same pace/rhythm that helped him generate legitimate All-Star buzz.
Reaves recorded 11 points on 18.8% field goal shooting and 33.3% three-point shooting against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday and 15 points on 37.5% field goal shooting and 33.3% long-range shooting against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, which is the definition of a scoring/shooting slump.
The Lakers are at their best when all of their stars are firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately for the 17-time NBA champions, that isn’t the case right now, which could spell doom if adjustments aren’t made.
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