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BOBBY MOTUS
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Thursday, January 26, 2017
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KOBE Bryant, in a game versus the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006 became the 2nd player with the highest point total in a single game in NBA history. He did the feat when he exploded for 81 points in a 122-104 victory over the Raptors, scoring 66 percent of LA’s point total.
He was 19 points shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s 1962 single game record of 100 points. Kobe also broke the LA Lakers franchise record of 71 points by Elgin Baylor in November of 1960. Baylor still holds the record for the most number of points at 61 in NBA Finals history when he did the scoring feat in 1962.
On the 11th anniversary of that epic shooting performance, the whole Laker crew versus the Dallas Mavericks can only come up with 73 points on a dismal 38 percent field goal conversion and a forgettable 14% percent 3-point field goal. Only Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams had double digit scoring.
Incidentally, the Mavs scored 122 points and the 49-point losing margin was a franchise-worst for the Lakers. Dallas has won 13 straight regular season games over the Lakers dating back to Nov. 5, 2013. The last time LAL won over the Mavs was on April 2, 2013. Both teams meet again on March 8 and Dallas will be trying to extend the streak, hoping for full cooperation from the Lakers.
It looked promising when 20 games into the season, the Los Angeles Lakers displayed cohesion and enthusiasm, submitting a 10-10 win-loss record. But one after the other, key players were relegated to the sick bay and those called for active duty just could not deliver. First and second year players force issues that often result in turnovers than conversions.
Since then, they have only won 6 in 28 games. The Lakers are on full regress mode. They only won once in their last seven games, with four of those games in double digit losses, including a 40-point butt-kicking from San Antonio. The 49-point loss eclipsed their previous franchise worst of 48 points that Utah dealt them last March.
If it is any consolation to a shamed Laker Nation, the team needs one more victory to equal their total number of wins last season. I would dare say that they will win ten more games of their remaining 34 regular season games. Anything less contributes some more to the embarrassment.
One of the NBA’s most iconic franchises with a winning tradition now sits at 27th in a field of 30 teams, a very unfamiliar position. They are two rungs above Miami and Brooklyn and if their losing ways continue, the Lakers will again have two first-round picks in the 2017 rookie draft. At least from 2014 up to the present, the draft picks were serviceable.
Are they tanking on purpose? Are they tired of chasing wins? Do they lack motivation? Who’s to blame – players, coaches or management? It has been four years since the Lakers been to the playoffs and it is high time to get back to the Purple Reign./PN
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