NBA Preview: Lonzo Set To Return Tomorrow Night Vs. Mavericks
SteemSports Presenter:@mateonav53
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
The Los Angeles Lakers will suit up against the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center on Friday at 7:30 PM PST /10:30 PM EST. This will be the first game back after the All-Star game for both teams. The Mavericks defeated the Lakers in Dallas almost two weeks ago 130-123.
This will be the first game that Isaiah Thomas will play at Staples as a Laker. We've seen that he can score in a Laker uniform, but the Lakers as a whole have yet to put up a passable defensive performance with him on the team. This fault falls on the whole team not just Isaiah, even though he's a defensive disadvantage. Before the trade, Luke Walton liked to run a lot of defensive schemes that involved switching, but it's much harder to do that with a 5'9 IT in the lineup. They were really starting to get the hang of Luke's defensive ideologies when they had Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
While the Lakers lost two solid role players and locker room guys in the trade, they should be getting their star No. 2 draft pick Lonzo Ball for this game. As we know he has been nursing an MCL injury that didn't seem serious at first but has turned into extended time sitting on the bench. The Lakers front office and Luke Walton have taken an extremely conservative approach to bringing Lonzo back, not wanting to risk a more serious injury. It shows they're in it for the long haul with Ball.
Even with him out, the young Lakers were also finally figuring out how to play well-executed, smart basketball before the trade went down. Things are in flux for the Lakers and Isaiah will probably not be on the team next year since he has an expiring contract and the Lakers want cap space to make a run at free agents like Lebron. We've come a bit of a ways from the rumors of Isaiah not accepting a backup role, to coming off the bench in his last 3 games. Let's hope Lonzo can get some valuable mentorship from IT in the waning days of the season, maybe IT can pass along nuggets of his bucket-getting knowledge. It's in Isaiah's best interest to play great this last stretch so he can net a lucrative contract in the offseason.
The Dallas Mavericks have been a bit of a mess the last couple days. Their season is pretty much lost with an 18-40 record sitting at 14th in the West. The Mavericks organization has come under fire from allegations that their office is a toxic workplace environment that breeds predatory behavior and misogyny. Not only that, but team owner Mark Cuban made public comments that his team should tank and the NBA slapped him with a $600,000 fine for the fiery statements. He likes to view himself as a transparent, "players owner" but sending your team that message can't be an encouraging sign. Dirk Nowitzki came out against Mark's comments, saying he'll never try to lose on purpose.
It's hard to tell how this game will go against the Lakers on Friday. Either team could come out in a funk after not having played for the last week because of the All-Star break. Those comments do have the potential to pump up this Mavericks team. Maybe they'll come out angry and will want to prove Mark Cuban wrong. At the same time, the return of Lonzo and having Isaiah play before a friendly crowd might propel the Lakeshow to a victory. The Lakers shouldn't have any reason to lose this one. My gut is telling me they'll play marginally better defense than they have lately and secure a W 120-118
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My first thought about the lakers after the trade was how many steps back this puts their D. Their D was trash at the beginning of the year, but that was understandable when you feature 2 rooks and a 100 pound SF. Then, led by Larry Nance Jr. and Walton's great coaching, they started playing better team D and holding teams to fewer points. Lonzo has shown flashes of solid perimeter D with his lanky body and I think will develop into a solid defensive player. IT needs to be saved soooooo many times every possession sometimes it's hard to watch. Teams are just gonna try to switch screens to get their offensive threat guarded by IT because the help D is gonna be nonexistent with such a young team and lack of athletic wing , free-safety-type-playmaker presence.
Well said my friend! Yea in the Dallas game Rick Carlisle was just switching Dirk and whatever offensive threat he wanted onto Isaiah and it made them prosper. I didn't like the trade when I first heard it and I still don't. We were growing something organic and they were just hitting their stride on the floor and especially in the locker room. It was all a move to make way for a couple A1 free agents and if the front office pulls it off they'll look like geniuses. But I'm wary of a star wanting to come here if all we are fielding is potential great players, they've shown they want to come to a team with established players. Crossing my fingers they can pull something off but I'm not sure if their chances are good.
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