The Lakers could not keep up with the Clippers in Tuesday's season opener and their poor bench play cost them.
Bench scoring in the game:
Lakers 19, Clippers 60.
After losing 112-102 to a Clippers team without Paul George it is very clear that the Lakers are a step behind them.
The Clippers were without their second-best player and only had one star, Kawhi Leonard, in the roster but the Lakers couldn't match them in terms of intensity and energy and the lack of depth was an issue.
Kyle Kuzma's absence didn't help matters and the Lakers were also without Rajon Rondo but there's no excuse. They won't go far with LeBron James and Anthony Davis combining for just two points in the fourth quarter.
After the game, free agent guard Jamal Crawford pointed out a flaw in the team's roster:
“Bron and AD are great, like the Lakers shooters, BUT feels like they're missing another scoring creator…”
Crawford is right and he could be that player they need. He averaged 7.9 points and 3.6 assists in 18.9 minutes over 64 games off the bench for the Suns last season, shooting 39.7 percent from the field, 33.2 percent from 3-point range and 84.5 percent from the free-throw line and he proved he can still score after finishing with 51 points in his last game of the season on April 9 against the Mavericks.
That effort made him the oldest player (39 years, 20 days) with a 50-point game in league history, surpassing Michael Jordan (38 years, 315 days), who did that on December 29, 2001. Crawford also became the first player ever to score 50 points for four different teams.
Overall Crawford has averaged 14.6 points in 29.4 minutes over 1326 career games and he's been named NBA Sixth Man of the Year three times. If I was the Lakers I would add Crawford to their bench in possibly the final season of his career.
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