The Los Angeles Lakers’ season has already gone down the drain, but Tuesday night could officially put the stamp on it. If the Lakers lose to the Detroit Pistons, they will officially be eliminated from playoff contention, which will be the earliest elimination since moving to Los Angeles.
While the Lakers are in the running for a top four lottery pick, the Pistons are trying to keep their playoff hopes alive, but they have not played well of late. In fact, Detroit has lost six straight games, pushing them further down the Eastern Conference standings and lessening their playoff chances.
The Pistons are currently five games behind the eighth seeded Charlotte Hornets with a 23-39 record. They have struggled since acquiring Reggie Jackson before the trade deadline. Their record with Jackson in the lineup is 1-6, which is quite depressing since he was supposed to come in and play at a high level given the starting position.
Jackson’s overall numbers look good, but his efficiency since joining Detroit has been abysmal. He is averaging 17.1 points, 7.3 assists, and 5.1 rebounds but is shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 28.0 percent from three-point distance. With the amount of shots he’s been taking (17.4 per game), Jackson has brought down the overall efficiency of the team and ruined some of the chemistry they had built with Brandon Jennings and D.J. Augustin.
In Jackson’s defense, the Pistons have played playoff contending teams in six of the seven games with him in the lineup. Therefore, playing against a struggling Lakers team could maybe allow Jackson to get a little loose and regain his confidence.
The Lakers are currently on a five-game losing streak of their own and have accumulated 16 wins and 46 losses this season. One of their 16 wins did come against the Pistons in Detroit on December 2nd. Jordan Hill and Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to victory in that game, with each player posting a double-double. Hill had 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Bryant cashed in 12 points and 13 assists.
At the time, the Pistons had Josh Smith on their roster and were at the lowest point of their season. Although Smith led them with 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and a block against L.A., he shot 7 of 17 from the field and was obviously not a good fit in Detroit despite filling up the stat sheet on a nightly basis.
It seems like the Pistons are in a downward spiral again since adding Jackson to their roster, but the team hasn’t had him around for too long to be able to create sufficient chemistry. Maybe things get better soon, and they are able to turn the tide and make a late playoff push just in time. Certainly playing against the Lakers should help the Pistons determine where they stand.
Meanwhile, it’s been a Déjà vu for the Lakers over the past few games. They have owned fourth quarter leads only to give them all away within the final five minutes of games once the opposing teams tighten their defenses. Being a young, inexperienced team, these kinds of struggles are ordinary.
Let’s see which team can snap their losing streak in this Tuesday night matchup.
The game tips off at 10:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.