The Lakers go down 0-2 in the Western Conference Finals despite starting off Game 2 in a dominant fashion. LeBron James’s 0/6 shooting from the 3-point line was a major cause for the Purple and Gold’s eventual downfall, despite coming into the 4th quarter with a lead. In fact, FS1 analyst, Skip Bayless, even went as far as to call the 19x All-Star “all-time pathetic” for his 3-point shooting.
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Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura were tremendous from the field and the distance in the game. The former of the two had shooting splits of 50% from the field, 55% from three, and 100% from the free-throw line. The latter let it fly at 80%/50%/100% while coming off the bench.
Still, James wanted to hero-ball his way out, to put his team level in this series. And as awful as he has been from the perimeter throughout the post-season, that cost the Lakers the game. And fairly this time, he got the heat from the 71-year-old analyst.
Skip Bayless rips LeBron James for “All-time pathetic” show
The Lakers’ lead was at double digits for long stretches during the 2nd period. However, they failed to run away with it after coach Darvin Ham brought James out of the game with a 9-point Lakers lead.
Instead, by the time he reintroduced James, the lead was cut to 2. And soon after, LA was finally overwhelmed by Denver, with the 38-year-old and his team finally succumbing to a frustrating defeat.
James, who is shooting 25% from the 3-point range this post-season, kept bricking his shots until he was 0-of-6 from there. And with Jamal Murray finding nothing but net in the 4th quarter, the Lakers were out of this contest before they ever knew it.
As you might expect, this was when Skip Bayless blasted James for digging his team a deeper hole as they travel back home with a mountain to climb. And admittedly, it’s hard to deny his words this time.
“LeBron James: triple jeopardy for the Lakers. He just won’t stop taking and missing threes, even though he’s down to almost 20% for the playoffs, all-time pathetic,” tweeted Bayless after Lakers’ 108-103 loss.
LeBron James: triple jeopardy for the Lakers. He just won’t stop taking and missing threes, even though he’s down to almost 20% for the playoffs, all-time pathetic.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 19, 2023
Can the Lakers get back in it?
Absolutely they can. Of course, the Lakers have the quality. But more importantly, the Suns have shown that coming back from down 0-2 against the Nuggets is very much possible. And they did that while Chris Paul was forced to sit out due to a groin injury.
However, James must limit his attempts from range to make that happen. Instead, he needs to take it to the rim, something he is still terrific at. Additionally, the Nuggets are not great at defending the post themselves. So in many ways, attacking Denver’s weakness is LA’s strength, something they need to exploit.
We have already seen the picture of the Suns trying to outshoot them. The Lakers can’t make the same mistake. Both James and Davis must dominate the paint and be fearless in taking free throws.
For now, this looks like the Lakers’ only way out. And for LeBron James’s sake, we hope they use it.
