“If they continue to play like this, the Lakers will continue to make believers out of more people” - Bill Oram believes proving the doubters wrong has been rallying cry for LA Lakers
The LA Lakers’ recent looks of confidence were mentioned in Bill Oram’s Tuesday article in The Athletic. The Lakers had a dominant 131-120 win in Cleveland on Monday. In the victory, LeBron James, who had 38 points, proved he is still very much invested in his team this season, and the Lakers look in better spirits.
LA Lakers proving the doubters wrong
The Athletic's Bill Oram commented on the LA Lakers' recent attitude:
“If they continue to play like this, the Lakers will continue to make believers out of more people”
Lakers in good spirits
The LA Lakers started the season as favorites to get to the NBA Finals after their massive moves in the preseason, but the team floundered instead.
LeBron and company were knocked out of the playoffs – in the first round – last year by the Phoenix Suns in six games. After this surprising exit, the narrative assumed James was going to come out swinging this year.
Well, he delivered. Leading the NBA in scoring average, James is averaging 30.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Unfortunately, his play has not translated into victories for the LA Lakers (31-41), who are ninth in the Western Conference.
Anthony Davis has been injured for a majority of the season while the squad has been dealing with chemistry issues.
They have yet to gain traction at all this season.
Until now, Oram argued.
The recent victories from Los Angeles – winning two of its past three games – have shown the Lakers are still in high spirits regardless of their situation.
A hungry LeBron James in the playoffs is a force to be reckoned with. After encountering a lot of doubters and a lot of heckling, one can only assume James is focused. In each victory, every Laker can be seen smiling and chiming in with excitement during each play. If this energy can stay, there may be trouble growing in the West.
If Anthony Davis was healthy, one can only assume the squad would be doing better. They were 17-20 when he played.
Russell Westbrook, though criticized much of this season, has been putting up good numbers regardless. Averaging 18.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 7.2 apg, he is contributing well alongside James.
Westbrook seems to be in better spirits after having displayed his frustration towards the fans in LA recently. He expressed how the heckling was so bad he did not feel comfortable bringing his family to games.
Since his comments, it seems the energy towards him has changed. One can only assume so, since his most recent viral moment of showing off his child's drawing with a smile ear-to-ear.
If this kind of playful demeanor can stand even in the face of defeat, imagine the energy when the LA Lakers gain traction. That seems to be starting, even without Davis. Again, if James can make it into the playoffs this year, anything can happen.
If the postseason started today, the Lakers would play in the Nine-Ten Game of the play-in tournament. They would need to win that game as well as a matchup with the Seven-Eight Game loser to earn the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.
The next game for the LA Lakers is Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers (44-27). This will be a good matchup for LA to prove it's starting to find a groove.