Game 20: Los Angeles Lakers (17-2) vs. Dallas Mavericks (12-6) - 4:00 PM ET

[Beethoven]

Just woke up right now from a nightmare. We were losing. It was just a nightmare. O **** ..but it wasn't. Dark times are coming.

[DS17]

Just woke up right now from a nightmare. We were losing. It was just a nightmare. O **** ..but it wasn't. Dark times are coming.

Lol what? Were 17-3 bud

[Kilroy]

Too much AD and LeBron on both ends of the floor. We need other guys to step up and be consistent.
Kuz was pretty much terrible in this one... He should have sat it out. His defensive lapses in the 3rd were devastating to us.

It's one loss, but it's how we've been winning and losing that's of concern for me. Teams can basically throw everything they have at AD and LeBron and dare the rest of the team to beat us, and they give themselves a real good chance. Our bench is pretty much terrible outside of Caruso and sometimes Howard. Kuz has had 2 maybe 3 impressive games. KCP is solid as a starter, but was pretty bad off the bench.

On paper, we should be a lot better, but I think the rotations are limiting us. We don't really have a set rotation yet, and it seems like it's all about getting AD and LeBron rest, while just tossing other guys in as needed. It's not really resulting in miss-matches or any scoring bursts from the bench.

If we're truly as good as our record shows, we should be getting a lot more easy wins. That's my main concern.

[tamaraw08]

Too much AD and LeBron on both ends of the floor. We need other guys to step up and be consistent.
Kuz was pretty much terrible in this one... He should have sat it out. His defensive lapses in the 3rd were devastating to us.

It's one loss, but it's how we've been winning and losing that's of concern for me. Teams can basically throw everything they have at AD and LeBron and dare the rest of the team to beat us, and they give themselves a real good chance. Our bench is pretty much terrible outside of Caruso and sometimes Howard. Kuz has had 2 maybe 3 impressive games. KCP is solid as a starter, but was pretty bad off the bench.

On paper, we should be a lot better, but I think the rotations are limiting us. We don't really have a set rotation yet, and it seems like it's all about getting AD and LeBron rest, while just tossing other guys in as needed. It's not really resulting in miss-matches or any scoring bursts from the bench.

If we're truly as good as our record shows, we should be getting a lot more easy wins. That's my main concern.

Against bad teams they get between 5-10 easy lobs per game but that will not happen against good defensive teams. Vogel has been praised for the past 3 weeks now mostly bec of his adjustments and partly bec Lebron and AD had been working extra hard on both ends. The coming 8 games or so, we would know what they are made of.
I really think he should challenge Kidd and/or Hollins to assemble the best bench lineup and come up with the best 6 set-plays when James and AD sit and rest.

[JVL]

When are we going to start resting Lebron? I don't care if we drop a few games due to keeping Bron in good shape.

[tamaraw08]

When are we going to start resting Lebron? I don't care if we drop a few games due to keeping Bron in good shape.

It’s a very valid point. It just seems like he’s trying to prove a point about some comments that he’s “washed” at the same time about the hailed Kawhi while doing some load management.
He mentioned that he didn’t want to “cheat” his teammates by not playing.
I think its not a matter of if but when. I see him finally missing games by January and February.

[Kilroy]

I think we're shooting hard for home court in the playoffs... But we do need to find a balance. Reality is thought, the way we've been playing without LeBron, we're not going to win too many if any of those games he sits.