Los Angeles Lakers legend and former president Magic Johnson raised his voice of criticism.
Magic Johnson criticized the Lakers on his personal SNS on the 20th (Korean time), saying, “The Lakers have no one to blame but themselves.”
He went on to add, “The reason the Lakers lost 101-93 to an understaffed Memphis was because they weren’t ready to play.”
The Lakers lost in the second game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies (hereinafter referred to as Memphis) that day. Following Steven Adams and Brandon Clark, who were injured before the start of the series, and Morant, who was injured in the first game, lost to Memphis.
Anthony Davis, the ace of the Lakers, had a field goal success rate of 28.6% (4/14) and was unable to attack the Memphis goal, where Xavier Tillman and Jaren Jackson Jr. were holding out. However, Davis recorded an on-court margin of +23 over two games with his overwhelming defensive presence.
Moreover, even more serious than Davis’ offense problems are the sluggishness of his main guard D’Angelo Russell and sixth man guard Dennis Schroeder. First of all, Russell played 30 minutes that day, recording a field goal success rate of 18.2% (2/11), a 3-point success rate of 20% (1/5) and 3 turnovers.
More than anything, Russell couldn’t put in an open 3-point shot and threw a 2-point yatu without being able to take off the defense. In addition, he failed to attack even in a mismatch with Tillman, and was consistent in losing concentration in defense.
Here, Schroeder failed to put in a single field goal for 15 minutes and committed two turnovers. Not only was he unable to attack at all with his unique speed, but he also failed to properly perform the two-man game using Davis.
However, Rui Hachimura’s constant, surprising performance came as a bright light to the dark Lakers. 안전놀이터
Hachimura became the first Lakers bench player to score 20 points in two consecutive playoff games since Magic Johnson in 1996. From the end of the regular season, he began to show aggressiveness in attack by making use of his size. This blended well with his existing advantage, shooting ability, and his attack power was maximized.
Meanwhile, the Lakers, who finished the series 1-1 on the road, will play the 3rd and 4th games at their home stadium, the Crypto.com Arena.
From Memphis (16-25), which had a poor away performance in the 22-23 regular season, attention is focused on how the Lakers will perform in front of their home fans.