In late February, March, April and early May, the Los Angeles Lakers looked like a gathering storm of a team after several midseason trades that essentially performed CPR on them.
But in the last week or so, their magic carpet ride has come crashing down to earth at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, and on Monday at Crypto.com Arena, it became official.
Down in the Western Conference Finals 3-0, Los Angeles came out with plenty of pride, passion and aggression, forging an early lead and increasing it in the second quarter behind some outstanding play by LeBron James. The team shot 55.6 percent overall and 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from 3-point range in the first half and took a 73-58 lead at intermission.
But that advantage evaporated in the third quarter like the Southern California marine layer disappearing in the afternoon heat. The heat was certainly emanating from the Nuggets, who started outhustling the Lakers and outscored them 36-16 in the period.
Down the stretch, L.A. fought to stay in the game, but a couple of wild misses by James near the end of regulation sealed a 113-111 defeat and a disappointing end to what looked like a very promising season. For Denver, Nikola Jokic had yet another triple-double, his third of the series, with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists plus three blocked shots.
The immediate future may still look somewhat bright for the Lakers, but there are also a couple of burning personnel questions that will need to be answered if they will have any hope of winning their 18th NBA championship next season.
Anthony Davis: B-minus
For most of the game, Davis simply couldn’t get his shots to fall consistently. A number of his attempts either rimmed out or just barely missed, and it was a sign it simply wasn’t his night. He went just 6-of-15, and one possible reason was that his teammates didn’t look to set him up much in his sweet spots, as they looked to ride James instead, especially in the first half.
But as he almost always does, Davis made a sincere effort defensively and on the boards. He grabbed eight rebounds in just the first quarter and was active defensively, looking to tip the ball away or change shots. He finished the game with 14 boards and three blocked shots.
Davis did score eight points in the fourth quarter to help give his team a shot at winning. He also did a good job of getting to the free throw line, where he was 9-of-10 on the night, allowing him to finish with 21 points.
LeBron James; A-minus/A
James came out with a vengeance in Game 4. Working almost exclusively from the post, he scored 21 points in the first quarter alone on 7-of-9 shooting. Even more impressive was the fact that he hit his first four 3-point attempts, including one on a botched pass attempt that went through the hoop.
James continued his assault in the second quarter and ended the first half with 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting. Remarkably, he played all 24 minutes of the half. But he cooled off considerably in the second half, and a major reason why was that he went away from his inside game.
Even though he looked a bit tired in the fourth quarter, he drew back-to-back charging fouls on Jokic. But his offensive game shifted almost entirely to the 3-point line in the second half, and his inside game never entirely reappeared.
Still, James finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists on 15-of-25 field-goal shooting.
Rui Hachimura: C
Hachimura was in the Lakers’ starting lineup for the first time since March, but he got off to a bad start, missing four of his first five shots. He started to warm up in the second quarter, but he never really got going, ending the game 3-of-12 overall and 0-of-3 from 3-point range.
Although Hachimura scored just 10 points in 42 minutes, he did get seven rebounds, which helped keep the Lakers in the game until the very end.
Dennis Schroder: B-minus
Back in the starting lineup, Schroder got into early foul trouble, picking up his third foul with 8:59 left in the second quarter. But he remained in the game and started to heat up afterward, hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
However, he shot just 2-of-8 in the second half, resulting in him shooting 5-of-13 on the night, although he did hit 3-of-6 from downtown and also contribute five assists and two steals.
Austin Reaves: B-plus
Reaves helped keep L.A. in this game by scoring 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting while making all four of his foul shot attempts. But he scored just three points in the fourth quarter, and his team could’ve used more from him down the stretch, especially given a few of the very strong fourth quarters he has had in the playoffs.
Nonetheless, Reaves has made a loud impression on the NBA all through the season, and he has set himself up to earn a very nice contract this summer.
Tristan Thompson: B
Thompson surprisingly came into the game to start the second quarter. He played some active defense, and a couple of minutes after getting onto the court, he got a dunk on a fast break off an assist from James. He had another stint in the second half where he played more effective defense and got a second basket on a dunk off another pass from James.
Thompson is just 32 years of age, and it will be interesting to see if the Lakers look to keep him around next season as an insurance big man, perhaps on a veteran minimum contract.
D'Angelo Russell: B-minus
Russell came off the bench in this game, and right after coming in midway through the first quarter, he forced a turnover, then shortly afterward he drove baseline and found LeBron James for an open 3-point basket. He played unselfishly and ended up with two assists, as well as four points on 2-of-4 shooting and one block.
Obviously, with his impending free agency, the big question is how motivated the Lakers will be to give him a new contract this summer.
Lonnie Walker IV: C-plus/B-minus
Walker played seven minutes and went 1-of-2 from the field to score two points. The Lakers certainly could’ve used more offense from him in a game like this.
