The Los Angeles Lakers returned to the NBA Finals for the first time in a decade to face the Miami Heat in Game One inside the Orlando Bubble on Wednesday. While the Heat jumped out to a hot start in the first quarter, Los Angeles rebounded to outlast Miami 116-98 and would lead by as many as 32 points in the game.
Playoffs are around the corner, and George expects excellent things from Zubac. With all the playoff experience on the Clippers, George says Zubac will be able to learn abruptly. He states, “I expect good things from him. I think again, a good thing about it, he’s got so much playoff experience around him our job is to make the process easy for him. Again, everyone is going to make mistakes. I’m still learning the game. It’s going to come naturally. But I think he’s ready for the experience.”
Despite the mounting list of recent accolades, the Lakers have had a glaring problem on offense. Los Angeles has shot poorly from both the field and from distance with an inability to seemingly get into any type of offensive rhythm. In fact, the team has shot 40.1 percent from the field and a mere 23.3 percent from deep.
With LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma and Dwight Howard all held out of the Lakers’ third and final scrimmage against the Washington Wizards on Monday afternoon, Lakers’ head coach, Frank Vogel opted to give rotation players, newly added team members and the Lakers’ spirited young core extended minutes.
Just one day after celebrating his 25th birthday, Lakers’ forward Kyle Kuzma went off for 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting including sinking five three-pointers in the team’s 119-112 win over the Orlando Magic.
Moments after Lakers’ guard Dion Waiters checked in to the team’s first game in nearly four months, a scrimmage against the Dallas Mavericks, he faded away and sunk a jump shot as the Lakers’ bench shouted “Cheeseeeee,” referencing Waiters’ nickname “Philly Cheese.”
On the first night of the Los Angeles Lakers’ arrival to the NBA bubble in Orlando, FL, newly signed J.R. Smith took to Instagram Live to give his followers a behind-the-scenes look into what players were experiencing. He lightheartedly criticized everything from his view of the parking lot to the size of the blanket the NBA provided pointing out that it was too small for most NBA players who are well above average height. He questioned how players were expected to stay healthy with the bags of candy that were placed as snacks in each players’ room. He went on to show his teammates in the hallway simultaneously grabbing their first meal and ran through the dinner menu. Before long, Smith shared with his captive audience that he was instructed to shut it down.
Lakers guard Dion Waiters announced on Friday’s Zoom call with reporters that he will dawn Black Lives Matter on the back of his jersey for the restart of the NBA season in Orlando.