Uncertainty clouds Lakers’ near future and has affected how they play

It’s the aged adage: One crippled astatine a time. Stuck successful a three-game slide, the Lakers are narrowing their scope to what’s straight successful beforehand of them.

That’s due to the fact that with the latest outbreak of COVID-19 crossed the NBA and the league, who knows what lies beyond today.

The Lakers met connected Wednesday to reappraisal movie from Tuesday’s nonaccomplishment to the Phoenix Suns, ostensibly preparing for Thursday’s crippled against San Antonio. In their ain meeting, they were missing 4 players (Malik Monk, Avery Bradley, Austin Reaves and Kent Bazemore), Head manager Frank Vogel and a fig of different staffers who typically lend to the sessions. Their Christmas Day crippled against the Brooklyn Nets, long circled arsenic 1 of the banner matchups of the NBA’s regular season, is earnestly astatine hazard aft the league postponed the Nets’ 3rd consecutive game.

“You’re conscionable taking it and surviving day-to-day, you conscionable don’t cognize what’s gonna happen,” guardant Carmelo Anthony said. “We could aftermath up time greeting and they could accidental our crippled time is canceled.”

The NBA has shown determination to propulsion done this latest surge of affirmative coronavirus tests, which successful December unsocial (more than 120) has already dwarfed the full fig of players and staffers who entered the protocols each of past season. Commissioner Adam Silver appeared connected ESPN connected Tuesday, saying helium didn’t expect a intermission successful the season. The league has made accommodations to teams with important numbers of unit successful protocols, similar the Lakers, by allowing 10-day hardship contracts and extended clip for two-way declaration players.

Even so, the uncertainty is maddening. The Lakers person seemingly stabilized connected their roster, with nary caller subordinate cases since Sunday morning, but there’s nary mode of readying for erstwhile the 4 players inactive successful protocols volition trial out. That question besides lingers astir Vogel, who is sending interim manager David Fizdale his coaching insights remotely via Zoom and texting successful the mediate of games.

Fizdale acknowledged helium isn’t definite if he’ll beryllium starring the Lakers against the Spurs oregon not; it depends however Vogel’s investigating goes.

“I’m acceptable if they request maine to measurement successful that seat, and I’m acceptable if I request to beryllium determination to enactment Frank,” helium said. “It’s a day-to-day concern and we’re not gonna get caught up successful however unfortunate this each is oregon however disruptive this each is. All we tin power is our effect to it.”

The ever-changing circumstances haven’t conscionable affected who tin play for the Lakers, but however the disposable Lakers play. The squad has gone with smaller lineups retired of necessity, playing much minutes with LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Trevor Ariza astatine halfway oregon powerfulness forward. While halfway Dwight Howard was technically disposable to play connected Tuesday night, the Lakers opted to springiness him different fewer days to get physically acceptable aft being locked successful protocols for the erstwhile week.

When Anthony was ejected connected Tuesday nighttime with his 2nd technical, helium acknowledged helium mislaid his chill aft feeling an elbow to the ribs connected a changeable attempt. But it besides underscored however bladed the Lakers are without him – down the stretch, they struggled against the Suns’ large men. Although, Anthony countered, possibly determination are times erstwhile the Lakers volition request that spark.

“The lone happening is I consciousness similar I fto guys, I fto the squad down due to the fact that that’s not thing that I do, get ejected and get successful situations similar that,” helium said. “But it happens, man. Maybe we request that, that benignant of fire. Somebody to spazz out, that benignant of hard fouling. We request that benignant of energy. I miss that game.”

The diminished extent besides changes the ways immoderate of the steadfast Lakers attack the game. Talen Horton-Tucker and Isaiah Thomas won’t often harvester to spell 2 for 24 from the tract (0 for 14 from 3-point range) arsenic they did against Phoenix, but immoderate players inevitably consciousness unit to enactment much connected their shoulders to get the squad retired of its slump.

That mightiness person been a origin for Russell Westbrook, who had 7 turnovers successful the game, including respective astatine the extremity of the 3rd 4th that helped the Suns summation a double-digit lead. During the team’s movie review, Fizdale said, determination were aggregate clips erstwhile Westbrook was taking connected excessively overmuch of the load.

“I deliberation the circumstances implicit the past fewer games, with truthful galore radical being successful and out, triggered successful him that helium had to prevention us,” helium said. “And truthful immoderate of his plays, helium was astir apt moving excessively accelerated oregon trying to property erstwhile things aren’t there.”

But mistakes volition hap erstwhile a caller radical plays together, and adjacent though James and Westbrook are inactive successful place, the five-man lineups the Lakers person had to spell with precocious haven’t logged overmuch clip together. DeAndre Jordan and Rajon Rondo were precocious dusted disconnected from the bench, Ariza conscionable returned from a preseason wounded and Thomas was retired of the NBA conscionable a week ago. There’s inactive small cohesion for the Lakers – that has been the lawsuit for astir of the season, but with much than a 3rd of the docket wrapped, it is opening to wounded their bottommost enactment successful a pursuit for playoff positioning.

They could premix it up adjacent much successful the coming days. Fizdale said against the Suns, helium erred connected the broadside of trusting veterans. But the Lakers besides consciousness they’re missing youthful vigor that they’ve travel to thin connected from Austin Reaves and Malik Monk – they mightiness look to regenerate that with caller additions Mason Jones and Jemerrio Jones if they consciousness a request for a changeable successful the arm.

“That’s a captious portion of our roster and you could spot erstwhile we don’t person it,” Fizdale said. “It’s blatant. It’s wide that we’re missing it.”

There’s precise small that feels definite successful the coming days. ESPN reported that its network, which airs each of the games connected Christmas Day, mightiness shuffle schedules around, adjacent perchance connected Dec. 24, meaning the Lakers could extremity disconnected astatine a antithetic clip than they expect. At the moment, the Nets person All-Stars Kevin Durant, James Harden oregon Kyrie Irving each successful the protocols strategy – adjacent if the crippled is on, the prima powerfulness the matchup erstwhile promised is importantly dampened.

Ariza acknowledged that it’s “unfortunate” that the NBA is dealing with this overmuch flux with a banner broadcasting time – a time galore players usually look guardant to – this adjacent astatine hand. But astatine 36, helium has learned to worth each infinitesimal connected the court, adjacent the ones that don’t unrecorded up to expectations.

“You don’t cognize however galore games you are going to play, particularly astatine the property that we are astatine connected our team,” helium said. “So, anytime you are capable to get an accidental to beryllium connected the court, you cherish it. It doesn’t substance who is retired there. Everybody retired present is professional, is simply a professional. So, whoever is connected the court, it’s special.”