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LeBron James will make his debut at the Staples Center Saturday night. His Los Angeles Lakers will face the Houston Rockets, the best team of the regular season.
BEGINNING OF LEBRON
It has all the hype of a brand game, and why not? His James' home debut in the purple and gold Lakers, against the vice president of the Western Conference. A Saturday in the autumn, it is the 22:30. Location AND on ESPN usually reserved for college football. But the bottom line is this: Saturday's clash will pit two entertaining but extremely imperfect teams that may be struggling to meet their expectations this season.
The Lakers can not shoot at 3 points. Heck, they can not defend the 3 points.
And the Rockets have clearly regressed since last season, losing two of their top three perimeter defenders and replacing them with a old aging All-Star who plays as if it was still 2003.
Yes, we are only one game in the season for each team. And yes, these two teams should be part of the playoffs, the Rockets probably remaining one of the best teams in the West and the Lakers can certainly do it.
But the problem here is that these two teams are so imperfect that they have no chance, as they are currently built, to defeat the Golden State Warriors, who have withstood a major test Friday Utah Jazz. At this point, you could say that a number of Western teams, including the Jazz, have outclassed the Rockets and Lakers.
The pelicans of New Orleans exhaust the teams. Heck, just ask the Rockets, because they completely bombed them during the opening night and scored 131 points on 53.1% of players and 40.0% of non-conformist players. Three guys not only scored at least 25 points for the Pelicans, but they also followed that performance with a 149-point loss to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Utah proved to everyone that he was actually in the Warriors League by getting a short prognosis to beat Golden State. They scored 81 points in the first period only against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
Oh yes, and the The San Antonio Spurs are still there, as well. You know, this team that has not missed the playoffs since 1997, before Tim Duncan was even in the NBA. This team has had the best winning percentage of all NBA teams in the last 20 years.
The season is young. Obviously, the Rockets will probably look good on Saturday. The Lakers are probably too, I mean after all, they looked good for the first half vs Portland Trail Blazers at the next openingt (other than their lack of defense).
THE ANTONY OPENING
It's no surprise that Anthony posted a minus-20 on the substitutes' bench in just 27 minutes of play. The worst player on the team, with Eric Gordon's under 11 at second row.
In the case of the Lakers, they play a style of play that was successful when Magic Johnson played in the Purple and Gold series in the 1980s. Johnson currently directs the series and it's not a coincidence that he built this team around a philosophy that worked 30 years ago. The problem is that it will not work in the era of today. To win and be a competent basketball team, you must have a 3-point shot. That's the only thing the Lakers do not have.
The Lakers scored 63 points in the first half of their first game against the Blazers, including 50 come in painting. They made zero 3 points in this period.
These two teams will improve as the season progresses. The Rockets will find a better way to use Anthony while masking his shortcomings, while masking their blatant lack of defensive depth.
The Lakers will gain better chemistry as LeBron optimizes the talent around him and coach Luke Walton will determine the alignments that work. Johnson – like Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey – will probably realize, before trading expires, that the Lakers must acquire a competent three-pointer or two for a chance to play in the Western Conference playoffs .
That said, there is no doubt that Saturday's "marquee" match represents two very imperfect teams, not two teams ready to face the Warriors.
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