TheLos Angeles Lakersentered Thursday night on a three-game winning streak. The standings were tightening like a vise. One winover the Denver Nuggetsand suddenly the Lakers would climb past them and into fifth place in the Western Conference.
A statement opportunity was in front of them.
A chance to show that this version of the Lakers, fully healthy now for the first time all season, belongs in the same conversation as the conference’s real contenders.
Instead, the Lakers walked out onto the floor at Ball Arena and played like a team that didn’t even realize the exam had already begun.
Denver sprinted out to an 11-0 lead before the Lakers had even broken a sweat. Seconds later the score was 15-2 and the Nuggets had already seized control of the game. They would go on to awire-to-wire 120-113 winwhile the Lakers spent the rest of the night chasing shadows.
“I didn’t think we started the game with a sense of urgency,” Lakers head coach J.J. Redick admitted afterward. “We talked about the importance of this game pregame. It’s difficult against good teams to spot them 13 points.”
That may be the most polite way imaginable to describe what actually happened in this one.
The truth is more simple: the Lakers blinked.
When the lights got bright against a team that matters, and an opportunity to prove they belonged, they shrank.
And frankly, that has become the defining pattern of this season.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
