Phoenix Suns frustration No. 1: The Lakers
L.A. has been accused of gaming the system, but there is nothing illegal or unseemly here, not in the modern NBA world.
The Lakers are the defending champs and, once James joined AD on the sideline because of injuries, saw they weren’t likely to find home-court advantage in the first round. As champs, that just didn’t matter, so James and Davis received plenty of time to recover and shake off the rust.
The idea is to be clicking come playoff time. And they’re clicking.
The Lakers, even without James and Davis for large parts of the season, finished as the league’s best defense.
And they enjoyed the comforts of home.
“It was good for us, good for our team,” Davis said. “We just can only imagine how it will be when it’s 20,000 in here. It was still loud, still electric. When we’re able to get the whole stadium in here, the whole fans screaming and yelling, I know it’s going to be even better.”
“It’s a beautiful thing,” James said. “It was a special night, and we just tried to reward our fans for the loyalty they have for us, and just try to play the game the right way.”
Basketball purists could be felt wincing as they contrasted that last statement with the way James drifted through the first half (not exactly playing the game “the right way”).
Of course, James also was attempting a politically correct way to slam Devin Booker for his cheap foul on Schroder that resulted in his ejection.
The solution: What once may have seemed a reach now seems reasonable. The NBA should strongly consider keeping the regular season relevant by rewarding the top seeds with a choice of opponents.
Picture it: “With the second pick in the Western Conference playoff draft, the Phoenix Suns select (ANYBODY BUT THE LAKERS!!).