The Lakers have a Luke Kennard problem.
Against a Thunder team with the NBA’s top-rated defense, Kennard will be the X-factor in their second-round playoff series.Without Luka Doncic, the Thunder will collapse on LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
The Lakers desperately need scoring help. They need a sharpshooter to open up the court. They need a 3-point specialist.
At the start of the Lakers’ first-round series against the Rockets, it seemed as though Kennard had been misused his entire career. It seemed as though coach JJ Redick had unlocked him.
With Doncic and Reaves out, Kennard went from being a 3-point specialist to the Lakers’ primary playmaker. He averaged 25 points in the first two games and seamlessly helped control the offense.
“He’s a sniper, we understand that,”LeBron Jamessaid after the Lakers’ 101-94 win in Game 2 on April 21. “But he does so much more.”
After that contest, Kennard went cold from the field.
And when Reaves returned in Game 5, Kennard went missing.
In Game 5, he was 0-for-4 from the field. In Game 6, he was 1-for-6.
That’s not going to fly against a Thunder team that pretty much has five brilliant defenders on the court at all times.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
