I’m going to keep this brief. The Lakers lost to the Pistons last week right in the middle of the 7-game road trip that saw them go 5-2. Detroit, possessors of the worst record in the east, beat the Lakers handily a night after the 76ers beat the Lakers on a buzzer beater. The Lakers played one of their worst games of the year, the Pistons played one of their best, and the results were the results. I could contextualize the Lakers performance in a lot of ways, but credit Detroit. They earned it.
Well, the Pistons are now in Los Angeles playing on the 2nd night of a back to back, losing to the Suns on Friday night by 17 points. Tonight’s game vs. the Lakers is their final on a 4 game trip where they’ve not won a game yet, losing each game by double digits. The Pistons compete, but they’re bad. And I hope the Lakers remind them of that and send them home winless on this trip with another thrashing.
Look, I can talk matchups here or Jerami Grant’s really good year or how defending Wayne Ellington would be a good idea or whatever else, but I won’t. I want the Lakers to remember that this team kicked their asses a week ago and come out tonight to repay the favor. I want them to extract revenge. Will I be happy with a regular old win? Sure, I will. But, I’d like more than that. And I hope the Lakers, as a team, want that too.
So, here’s to the Lakers building on the momentum from their 2nd half vs. the Nuggets on Thursday and carrying over some of that defensive intensity to tonight’s game vs. the Pistons. Do that and neither Bron nor AD will have to play in the 4th quarter. And if they can’t muster the energy or focus to do for themselves, maybe they’ll do it for me. It’s my birthday tomorrow and I don’t ask for much, so maybe they can come through for their boy. Thanks in advance, Lakers.
Where you can watch: 7:00pm start time on Spectrum SportsNet.