Lakers Postseason

With the series tied at 2 games a piece, the Lakers can't be too happy with how the series has been played so far but at the same time can't be too upset either. Having the best player in the world and one of the greatest of all time on the team in LeBron James should make the Lakers feel confident about their chances of advancing to the next round even if Anthony Davis is hurt. Through the first 4 games there have been positives that the team needs to continue and there have been negatives that need to be improved to beat the Suns:

Positives

Defense- Since Frank Vogel became the head coach, the defense has been the strength of the team and the first round of the 2021 playoffs have been no different. The Lakers have held the Suns offense to only 99 points per game while they averaged over 115 points per game in the regular season. Guys like Alex Caruso and Dennis Schroder have been harassing Chris Paul and Devin Booker and Marc Gasol has come off the bench to provide solid defense as well. The last 6 minutes of game 4 have shown how strong the Lakers defense has and can be when they cut the lead to single digits with no help from the offense at all. 

Marc Gasol- While he isn't the player he once was with the Grizzlies , Gasol has come off the bench to provide much needed spacing on offense and to provide size on defense. On the offensive side, Gasol has made some open threes causing the defense to play out and guard him further from the basket, which can lead for more lanes to drive and cut for the other players. Gasol's defense has been the best of all three centers on the team with taking charges and playing without fouling too much. Gasol should play around 20-22 minutes per game and come off the bench to supplement Andre Drummond.

Negatives

Three point shooting- The Lakers three point shooting has been poor in the playoffs and needs to improve. The tea has shot 37 for 127 from three which is a total of 29.1% below their season average of 35.4%. There have been way too many missed open threes in the series and guys like Kyle Kuzma and Dennis Schoder need to start making the open threes. The team has to start hitting their season averages from behind the arc if they want to win this series and another championship.

With the series now coming down to best out of 3, the Lakers need to start hitting more open shots and driving the ball to the lane more to win the series. If the team can get hit their season averages in threes and getting to the foul line more, they should win the series and move on to the next round even with Anthony Davis being questionable to play again.