Lakers have an uncomfortable Rui Hachimura problem bubbling to the surface
With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves now each out for prolonged durations of time, the strain has turned up for the remainder of the Los Angeles Lakers’ supporting forged. Given that LeBron James is 41, anticipating him to pull off a classic LeBron-type, backpacking efficiency into the playoffs is extremely unrealistic.
The problem is that this can be the Lakers’ solely hope. The supporting forged is not constant sufficient to win video games—and that difficulty begins with Rui Hachimura.
In Sunday’s 134-128 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Hachimura was phenomenal on offense, scoring 21 factors and drilling three triples. The difficulty is that when he is not drilling 3s, he has little to no impression. He’s not an ideal defender or rebounder, and he would not convey a lot to the recreation as a playmaker. These weaknesses solely turn out to be amplified with two of LA’s three stars watching from the sidelines.
A main instance of this got here on Thursday towards the Oklahoma City Thunder. To be truthful, the whole Lakers workforce could not throw a rock into the ocean that evening, however Hachimura was particularly unhealthy. The Gonzaga product shot 2-for-9 from the discipline, scored 4 factors, and completed a team-worst minus-39.
Rui Hachimura cannot disappear whereas Lakers stars are out
The majority of the Lakers’ success in March stemmed from operating issues by way of Luka and letting him cook dinner and arrange his teammates. That’s all come crashing down for the Lakers.
Now, JJ Redick is going to need way more from Hachimura. Sunday evening, he pulled down seven rebounds, a quantity he wants to keep as a starter.
Against Dallas, we noticed Luke Kennard flip into Luka Kennard, recording a triple-double with 15 factors, 16 rebounds, and 11 assists. That’s precisely the sort of impression Hachimura must be wanting to make.
Hachimura having zero impression on the consequence of a recreation, relying on how his shot was wanting on any explicit evening, did not matter every week in the past. With two starters out of the image, him having an off evening can flat-out lead to a Lakers loss.
This last stretch of the common season will likely be a real take a look at. Can Hachimura discover some rhythm and shake off being a streaky shooter? If not, can he get again to being the well-rounded participant he was when the Lakers first acquired him from the Washington Wizards?
If neither of these issues occur, these last 4 video games for LA are about to be extraordinarily ugly, and the postseason will observe go well with.
