Los Angeles Lakers: Blistered By Cavaliers to End Grammy Trip

The “Grammy” road trip for the Los Angeles Lakers wasn’t nearly as lengthy this year.

Normally, the event at Staples Center knocks the purple and gold out of Hollywood for seven or eight games. It’s not as bad as San Antonio’s trip, where a rodeo at AT&T Center leaves them with nine straight road games some years, but it’s still tough on the players. Travel and jet lag catch up to any athlete on any level, and there’s no greater struggle than the NBA’s regular season.

Ending their shortened four-game Grammy trip, the Lakers were persecuted by Cleveland in Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday afternoon, 120-105. It marked the sixth time this season where Los Angeles has lost four straight games. One of those six occurrences was during a long nine-game losing streak, which ended with a surprising double-OT victory over Pau Gasol and the Bulls.

Today, there was no surprises. There was no need for extra basketball. There shouldn’t have been a need for a second half, because this was written down as a Lakers defeat after 24 minutes.

Although Cleveland walked into the game just 19-9 at home — solid, but not impressive considering the atmosphere LeBron James has brought to Ohio — this was no stage for the D-league Lakers to contend on national television.

Things started smoothly, with Jordan Clarkson attacking Cleveland’s anemic defense off the dribble and getting easy finishes at the rim. Even with him starting at point guard for this team during Ronnie Price‘s absence, the Lakers don’t play traditional basketball. They haven’t played through one main floor general since the 2012-13 season, when Steve Nash had them organized for half a season.

Instead, their style is now just chaotic, with a lot of random penetration from everyone on the court. They don’t get a lot of open triples, because they can rarely be effective in drawing the defense to the rim. As the Lakers’ guards penetrate, none of them have been relatively efficient when it comes to finishing around the rim. Thus, there’s little reason for their opponents to leave 3-point shooters. Opposing wing defenders can just stay home on the shooters, or give brief help (two or three steps) on drives, and quickly recover on the outside.

It hasn’t been rocket science trying to stop Los Angeles from scoring inside. The Lakers have been vile from the field this year, particularly within the confines of 2-point range. Forget the notion of “Byron Scott doesn’t like a 3-point offense.” This team has been even better from the outside, even with the little space defenders give them on long-range shots.

On the season, Los Angeles has shot just 45.8 percent from 2-point range, which ranks them 27th overall in the league. Compared to a team in the top 10 (Cleveland ranks seventh at 49.9 percent), it’s well under par. Scott arguably hasn’t coached a team this wretched offensively in his career.

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From 3-point range, the Lakers have been right around league average. Shooting 34.9 percent from deep has put them 16th in the league, above four playoff caliber teams (Oklahoma City, Memphis, Miami, Charlotte). Yet, Scott only has them attempting 19.4 outside looks per game, which is the fifth-fewest in the league. There’s been no intelligent handling of this offense, and it only gets worse as guys hit the injury list.

Jordan Hill is still out at least another week with a strained hip muscle, and Ronnie Price’s elbow can’t stay healthy. Don’t even bring up the name of Los Angeles’ superstar, the one that should’ve been head-to-head with LeBron on Sunday. Kobe Bryant‘s injury luck has been worse than Derrick Rose‘s lately. Any time that’s the case … give it up.

Bryant’s injury has been a blessing in disguise for the Lakers during this 38-loss season, since it’s given Jordan Clarkson the chance to shine in the brightest lights possible. Of course, it could be brighter if the Lakers had a winning record, but this is still a franchise that people pay attention to. Eyes are always on the 16-time champions, regardless how many losses they continue to pile up. The fact that Clarkson has been given the keys to a starting spot for the rest of the year speaks volume to how confident Scott is in the young combo guard.

Clarkson’s 20 points on Sunday set a career-high through his 28 games played as a pro. He did it primarily through his paint scoring, which included beating Timofey Mozgoz to the rim off the dribble. Clarkson did a fabulous job of fooling the defense on a couple instances, acting as if he was looking to pass out of the lane once he got in too deep. Instead, he’s developed a sweet use of the hesitation dribble, which enables him to get around almost any defender.

His frame of 6’6″ with long arms and legs makes it incredibly tough to defend without fouling. As a result, Clarkson earned nine trips to the foul line against Cleveland, in which he knocked down eight of them. Scoring sure is easier when you earn an unguarded, 15-foot shot.

Neither the Lakers or Cavaliers shot an absurd amount of free throws, as it was a cleanly officiated game. Neither team turned the ball over more than 14 times as well. For a Sunday showcase of talent and youth, you couldn’t have asked for a better pace.

The real knockout punch for Cleveland was their use of the perimeter, and the spotlight scintillating all over Kevin Love. Often associated with the terms “overrated” and “misused,” Love silenced everyone for one more day.

Of Cleveland’s 120 points, 54 of them (45 percent) came from 3-point range. The Cavaliers poured 18 triples on L.A. in just 33 tries, which had them shooting 54.5 percent from beyond the arc. The Lakers were 24 percent worse from deep, making just 7-of-23. The 33-point swing between 3-pointers is what left the Lakers out to dry, and it was just laundry day for David Blatt’s offense.

Feb 8, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) shoots the ball in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

Love basically laughed off all the rumors of coming to Los Angeles during the offseason, as he nailed 7-of-8 triples and executed perfectly when LeBron set him up. There’s no plausible way someone would walk away from this destructive offense, when sometimes it’s the easiest job on Earth. Love’s 32 points were a season-high for him in a Cavaliers uniform, as the only other time he broke the 30-point mark was in an early January loss against Dallas.

As putrid as the Lakers’ defense has been this season, 82 combined points from a “big three” is enough to warrant some tears. This may just be the most offensively sound big three the NBA has ever seen, because it’s led by a point guard that can be overlooked even with 28 points. Kyrie Irving is that great, and he’s been just as filthy from 3-point range as Stephen Curry this season. Irving is shooting 40.5 percent from deep on 5.2 attempts, and Curry is currently at 40.8 percent on 7.8 attempts.

The Eastern Conference is officially on notice, because Cleveland looks unbeatable at home. Since the start of 2015, their only two home losses have been to Houston and Dallas, two very difficult Western Conference playoff teams.

As for the Lakers, the Grammy trip has ended on a sour note. Scott went 0-4 on the road, with some disgusting losses that should never be forgiven. A double-digit beatdown by the Knicks on Super Bowl Sunday, followed by two overtime losses to Milwaukee and Orlando is the toughest stretch to swallow for these Lakers.

31 games remain. If this legendary franchise has any intelligence left in the front office at all, with Jim Buss calling the shots, they’ll hope and pray at least 25 of them are losses.

The Lakers helped rid the Suns of an aging point guard three years ago. Don’t help them yet again by awarding them a top-five protected draft pick.

Lighten up, fans. It’s almost over.

Next: Can The Indiana Pacers Reach The Playoffs?

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