Sunday, the Lakers played one of their worst opening quarters of the season, giving up 48 points to the Suns in Phoenix. Monday, they followed that up with arguably their worst offensive quarter, scoring only 12 points at home vs. Toronto. Not surprisingly, the Lakers lost both games. But it's a reminder that for all the attention given the team's flagging, sagging defense, the offense is statistically worse. And that was the side of the ball they were aiming to fix last summer.
A quick glance at the lineups for each team shows the problem. The Lakers face a huge talent gap against virtually every team they play while Anthony Davis is in street clothes. Meanwhile, not only does Toronto have more good players than L.A., they have more athletes. Even the Lakers' younger legs don't have the hop and length of the Raps.
How they fix, or don't, problems with the roster could have a big impact on the way fans view LeBron James and his pursuit of more NBA records. Already, some fans are accusing him of stat padding. Playing just to goose his all time numbers. Not fair, really, but if the Lakers find themselves on the fringes of relevance again next year, what will that mean for those big milestone moments that are sure to come for James?
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: Monday, the Lakers said "Hold my beer" to Sunday's first quarter in Phoenix, managing to be worse against the Raptors. The offense remains a catastrophe.
SEGMENT 2: For all the talk of bad defense, the Lakers have an offense problem, and they have an offense problem in part because the roster doesn't have enough good players on it. Spirit and fight be damned.
SEGMENT 3: Is LeBron just "stat padding?"
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