Lakers lost because Lebron didn't score in 4th + choking foul & TO + huge negative

[3ba11]

Lakers would've won if Lebron doesn't foul Ant or make the bad inbounds pass, or if he scores in the 4th

or if he shoots the same 49% in the 4th that he shot overall instead of 33% in the 4th.. or if he wasn't an enormous negative all year and in this series.

If Lebron did these basic things, the Lakers are on the path to the Finals instead of "needing more help".. They don't need more help - they just need to replace Lebron or get him to retire.. He's horrible.

[Meticode]

[red1]

completely agreed OP.


like you said - no pip, no chip

[Full Court]

Cliff notes for OP:

If Lebron wasn't the biggest choker of all time, the Lakers would have won.

[ImKobe]

Austin Reaves relegated to a spot up shooter next to Bran & Luka Ball - struggled - his FT rate plummeted while 2/3rds of his shots came from the 3PT line because they didn't let him cook.

JJ relying too much on his 2 best players and not benching them and not allowing Reaves to run the show for small stretches in the game was a massive mistake. He thrived in that role all season and could've held the offense down while Lebron and Luka rested for those 4th quarter stretches. It's coaching malpractice and I don't even blame JJ because he would've never been the Lakers' HC if not for Lebron, so he was just following orders.

[ShawkFactory]

Austin Reaves relegated to a spot up shooter next to Bran & Luka Ball - struggled - his FT rate plummeted while 2/3rds of his shots came from the 3PT line because they didn't let him cook.

JJ relying too much on his 2 best players and not benching them and not allowing Reaves to run the show for small stretches in the game was a massive mistake. He thrived in that role all season and could've held the offense down while Lebron and Luka rested for those 4th quarter stretches. It's coaching malpractice and I don't even blame JJ because he would've never been the Lakers' HC if not for Lebron, so he was just following orders.

That what you saw? I suppose it would surprise you that Reaves had the ball more in that series than Lebron did.

Reaves's time of possession was right around what Kawhi, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Donovan Mitchell, and Franz Wagner had. Guess he deserves more than that?

[ImKobe]

That what you saw? I suppose it would surprise you that Reaves had the ball more in that series than Lebron did.

Reaves's time of possession was right around what Kawhi, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Donovan Mitchell, and Franz Wagner had. Guess he deserves more than that?

In the RS 51% of his shots were 3s, in this series that number went to 64%. His corner 3s went up from 12% to 21% in the POs. His 2PT and FT attempts plummeted.

In the last two games 22 of his 28 FGA came from behind the 3PT line and he had 0 FTA. He had some opportunities to drive and obviously turned the ball over as well but he was definitely used more like a Klay Thompson which I don't think was the right approach. The two road games he wasn't attacking much in the 2nd half it was all Luka/Bran ball with him catching the ball behind the 3PT line. Needed to have the rock more to take pressure off Doncic, especially in Game 4 when they were trapping him and it just turned into Doncic getting the ball to James who swung it to Reaves for corner 3s.

[ShawkFactory]

In the RS 51% of his shots were 3s, in this series that number went to 64%. His corner 3s went up from 12% to 21% in the POs. His 2PT and FT attempts plummeted.

In the last two games 22 of his 28 FGA came from behind the 3PT line and he had 0 FTA. He had some opportunities to drive and obviously turned the ball over as well but he was definitely used more like a Klay Thompson which I don't think was the right approach. The two road games he wasn't attacking much in the 2nd half it was all Luka/Bran ball with him catching the ball behind the 3PT line. Needed to have the rock more to take pressure off Doncic, especially in Game 4 when they were trapping him and it just turned into Doncic getting the ball to James who swung it to Reaves for corner 3s.

He had the ball plenty though, as I've already alluded to. Maybe he just wasn't really able to create offense for himself against that team like he normally could in the RS?

[90sgoat]

The difference between Lebron and Kawhi is stark.

It's true that Kawhi is 33 and Lebron is 40, but no one in their right mind thinks Kawhi has more athleticism than Lebron now and yet Kawhi has been deadly from midrange, 3 point range and in the post this series.

55% from 3-10 feet, 57% from 10-16 feet

Lebron on the other hand?

28% from 3-10 feet, 36% from 10-16 feet

Luka?

48% from 3-10 feet, 44% from 10-16 feet

Lebron can't shoot and that's always been why he hasn't won.

[ArbitraryWater]

choking foul

[ImKobe]

The difference between Lebron and Kawhi is stark.

It's true that Kawhi is 33 and Lebron is 40, but no one in their right mind thinks Kawhi has more athleticism than Lebron now and yet Kawhi has been deadly from midrange, 3 point range and in the post this series.

55% from 3-10 feet, 57% from 10-16 feet

Lebron on the other hand?

28% from 3-10 feet, 36% from 10-16 feet

Luka?

48% from 3-10 feet, 44% from 10-16 feet

Lebron can't shoot and that's always been why he hasn't won.

Kawhi overall is more athletic than Lebron right now if you weigh in his ability to play defense on top of the offense he provides, and he's shown he can play great D down the stretch of games (even on Jokic) and take it to the hoop.

[Full Court]

In the RS 51% of his shots were 3s, in this series that number went to 64%. His corner 3s went up from 12% to 21% in the POs. His 2PT and FT attempts plummeted.

In the last two games 22 of his 28 FGA came from behind the 3PT line and he had 0 FTA. He had some opportunities to drive and obviously turned the ball over as well but he was definitely used more like a Klay Thompson which I don't think was the right approach. The two road games he wasn't attacking much in the 2nd half it was all Luka/Bran ball with him catching the ball behind the 3PT line. Needed to have the rock more to take pressure off Doncic, especially in Game 4 when they were trapping him and it just turned into Doncic getting the ball to James who swung it to Reaves for corner 3s.

To be fair, he was getting all kinds of barely-touched foul calls during the regular season. The refs were letting more contact fly in the playoffs, so that's probably the biggest factor in his free throw numbers going down.