After missing 17 games with a groin injury, LeBron James returned to action this week and led the Los Angeles Lakers to a much-needed win over the Clippers. The team went 6-11 without James, so his return was crucial if the Lakers wanted to cling to any hope of making the playoffs this season.

As it is, they now sit in 10th place in the Western Conference after going 1-3 this past week. Unfortunately, James was forced to play a whopping 40 minutes in his first game back, which was not desired but necessary if the Lakers were going to get a win.

The consequence was he was too sore to play in the next game, which was a road loss in the Bay Area to the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers played well for three quarters and after trailing early they surged to a 10-point lead in the third quarter.

However, as has been the case far too often this season, the Lakers collapsed in the fourth quarter leading to a comfortable win for the Warriors.

There is tremendous unease surrounding the Lakers right now. The incessant trade rumors involving all of the young players and the speculation that head coach Luke Walton’s job is in serious jeopardy is a major distraction no matter how many times it is downplayed.

To end the week, it was reported that there was a heated confrontation following the Warriors game between Walton and Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee, and perhaps others. To top it off, James is now being evaluated on a game-by-game basis until the All Star break, which creates a further cloud of uncertainty.

What Went Right

The return of James last week was undeniably a highlight. He said after the Clippers’ game that he was only playing at 80 percent strength, but he still managed a near triple-double with 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in an overtime thriller which the Lakers won, 123-120.

If anything was proven while James was out, it was that without him the Lakers are roughly equivalent to the Phoenix Suns. The front office assembled a flawed roster this past summer, and without James those flaws were magnified for all to see.

If James has proven anything this season, he is just as good and valuable as has always been advertised.

Rajon Rondo also had a strong week. Over and above his solid statistics, it was his vocal leadership on the court that was so pivotal. The Lakers put up little fight to start the week against the Philadelphia 76ers, but Rondo had 11 assists and seven rebounds.

He followed up with 14 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists against the Clippers, and 12 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds against the Warriors.

With Lonzo Ball expected to miss the next month, it was fortuitous that Rondo returned from his own lengthy absence when he did.

Brandon Ingram had a mostly solid week, picking up the scoring slack and shooting very efficiently from mid-range. In the past couple of weeks, with Kyle Kuzma hampered with strained hip that has rendered him ineffective, it was Ingram who took the lead most nights which included a career-high 36 points against the 76ers.

Not only did Ingram score 36 points in that contest, he was an outstanding 16-for-20 from the field and had five rebounds and five assists. It was one of the best all-around games of his career.

In the past, when he had a big game it would be followed by disappearing in the next contest, but Ingram followed up with 19 points against the Clippers and 20 against the Warriors. Ingram’s mid-range game is becoming more and more consistent.

Lance Stephenson also had a big week off the bench, so much so that he played most of the fourth quarter and the entire overtime period in the win over the Clippers. In total, he played 30 minutes and finished with 20 points which included connecting on five three-point shots. He really kept the Lakers in the game for much of the contest until James took over.

What Went Wrong

While it was great to get James back in time to defeat the Clippers, for the most part this was another bleak period.

The team showed little fight in the loss to the 76ers. Their body language suggested from the very start of the game that they knew they had no chance, which is how they played. They did not play especially well against the Clippers either, but James did just enough when it counted in the second half to secure the win.

They battled back to take a third quarter lead a lead against the Warriors but selfish, lackadaisical play in fourth quarter was a script we’ve seen too many times this season. The Warriors game was a study in contrasts.

The Warriors have great shooters, but what is noticeable is that all their players move the ball until they find someone who is open. With the Lakers, Ingram, Stephenson, Michael Beasley, and Kentavious-Caldwell Pope in particular are prong to holding the ball too long and/or taking ill-advised shots.

Ingram, in particular, dribbles far too much. It is especially noticeable in the fourth quarter of games, where the ball stops moving entirely.

Apparently Walton thought the same thing and criticized the players for it after the Warriors game, which is reportedly what led to the confrontation.

Walton deserves his fair share of the criticism. Too often his rotations make no sense, and a player will be on the court 25 minutes one night and eight minutes the next. He insists on playing 10 or more players every game, and it is not always the same 10 players.

He waits too long to bring the starters back in the fourth quarter, and he can’t seem to get the players to move the ball consistently. Too many nights he can’t motivate the team to play with energy.

McGee was having the best year of his career and was instrumental in the team’s success earlier this season. He was out for seven games with pneumonia, and he has not looked like the same player since his return. But still, did he deserve to lose his starting role?

Further, Walton is prone to playing all three of his centers many nights, which makes no sense, and he tends to feature one center over the others for no apparent reason.

Walton’s luck has not been good this year. Except for a handful of games earlier in the season, the team has never been at full strength. Losing James for 17 games just as the Lakers were reaching their peak with a Christmas Day win over the Warriors, and then losing Ball just when he seemed to be coming into his own, was brutal.

But still, Walton has done himself no favors with his inability to install an effective half-court offense, his inconsistent rotations and his inability to motivate.

It is time to admit that Hart is suffering through a poor sophomore season. So much was expected of him based on how he finished last year and how well he looked over the summer, but it just hasn’t materialized. His scoring is down to nothing and his defense is good at times but inconsistent.

Part of the problem is that he has been shuttled back and forth all season between starting and coming off the bench, and he is asked to play three different positions including power forward, which is a stretch for someone of his size.

Kuzma had a poor week, either the result of trying to play through injuries, the impact of the trade rumors all of which include him in the package to New Orleans, or both. He has lost the spring in his step and while he is battling on defense, he is not having much of an impact on the offensive end.

He did not play against the 76ers and took only eight and 12 shots, respectively, in the following two contests. With James out, Kuzma is the team’s leading scorer who should be taking 20 shots a night.

For those who have been following D’Angelo Russell’s excellent season for the Brooklyn Nets, he is averaging 19.7 points per game but he takes 18 shots per game. In recent weeks, as his average has increased, Russell routinely takes 25.

Kuzma has just not been the aggressive, confident player he was last season, despite the fact his scoring average is up.

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When Brandon Ingram was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 2 pick in the 2016 Draft, he joined the team with very high expectations. There were experts who felt he should have gone ahead of Ben Simmons at No. 1 overall.

But three seasons into their careers, Simmons has earned Rookie of the Year honors and is an Eastern Conference All-Star, while the Lakers are still trying to figure out what they have in Ingram.

He showed very little as a 19-year-old rookie, though played in 79 games, started 40 of them, and averaged a robust 29 minutes. The biggest problem was that for most of the season he just couldn’t score, and it was so bad that it was embarrassing at times.

Still, towards the end of the season, Ingram started to learn how to take the blows and finish at the rim despite his thin frame.

Before his second season, Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson expressed supreme confidence in Ingram, describing him as the only “untouchable” player on the roster and someone who was sure to average 20 points a game.

Fans were excited to see the “new” Ingram, but his season started slowly and frustration set in. Then, in January, Lonzo Ball went out for an extended period and the coaching staff decided to make Ingram the point guard.

The result was the longest winning streak the Lakers had enjoyed in years. Ingram suddenly took a sizable leap in all facets of his game. His scoring average went to 16.1 points per game and he was solid as a playmaker and on the boards.

The problem was, Ingram kept getting injured himself which limited him to only 59 games played last season.

Ingram got off to a slow start in his third year, with his scoring, assists and rebounds all down from the campaign prior. He has potential to be disruptive with his impressive wingspan, but he hasn’t been special on defense.

One noticeable change is that Ingram has been very aggressive on offense – at times overly aggressive. He has turned into a ball-stopper most of the time, where he dribbles and dribbles before putting up a difficult shot. It seems as though he rarely passes the ball, and when he does, he usually gets it right back so he can dribble again.

As with last season, Ingram made improvement again in January, and this past week that was on full display. To begin the week, he scored a career-high 36 points in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

What was remarkable was his accuracy in that game as he made 16-of-20 shots. It was also impressive that he had five rebounds and five assists, contributing to a well-rounded performance.

In the past, when Ingram had a big game and got everyone excited that he had finally arrived, you could be sure he would disappear in the next three contests. But last week, after his outburst against the 76ers, Ingram followed up with a strong 19-point performance against the Clippers, and 20 points against the Golden State Warriors.

This past month, Ingram has been deadly with his mid-range shot. His shooting average on the season is close to 49 percent, which is very good for the type of game he plays. His scoring average has risen to 17.2 point per game, a career high.

If he stays healthy, his scoring average is likely to continue to increase before the end of the season.

Two things which are still holding Ingram back are his terrible free throw shooting, a career-low 65 percent which is simply unacceptable for a wing player. The other problem is that he is not a three-point threat, rarely taking those shots at all and when he does he connects on only 29 percent.

Aside from the return of LeBron James for one game, there wasn’t much to cheer for last week. Ingram, however, had the kind of week that the Lakers front office has been waiting for the past three seasons. He found a good rhythm scoring at the rim and from mid-range, and when James was not around, he was the best player on the court for the Lakers.

The question is, with the trade deadline looming, will Ingram still be with the team next week? For three years, Ingram has been the one untouchable, and it reportedly cost the team a chance to trade for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. This time around things feel different, with a player the stature of Anthony Davis trying to work his way to Los Angeles.

Ingram has not met lofty expectations so far in his three-year career, but he is still only 21 and has plenty of time to learn and improve. D’Angelo Russell was mostly underwhelming his first three seasons before suddenly putting it all together and becoming an All-Star this season.

Ingram will get better, but whether that journey continues as a Laker or in some other uniform will be decided later this week.

For the time being, however, fans should celebrate a very strong performance from Ingram. For that success, he is deserving of Lakers Player of the Week.

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The Los Angeles Lakers are in a bad frame of mind right now. Once in fourth place in the Western Conference, they have fallen to the 10th spot in the past week, and if things do not turn around quickly, they could slide lower.

Even the return of LeBron James after a five-plus week absence has not changed the Lakers’ fortunes. The team has dropped three of five games since he has been back. It would have been even worse if not for the buzzer-beater by Rajon Rondo against the Boston Celtics.

The Lakers have finally reached the All-Star break just when it was needed most. There will be a lot of soul-searching in the next week as the team’s brain trust tries to figure out why things are going so badly and what, if anything, can be done to turn things around.

One decision the Lakers will face in the next week is the likely addition of one more player. The team made a very surprising move at the trade deadline, parting with Ivica Zubac and Michael Beasley for a single player in return, Mike Muscala.

This opened a roster spot which reportedly will be filled with a veteran who has been or will be bought out by his current team.

The two players linked most prominently to the Lakers in recent weeks are Markieff Morris and Carmelo Anthony. There could be a surprise, but the consensus is that the front office will choose between these two options.

Morris is the safe choice, although the Lakers may have competition to sign him. He is 29 and in his eighth NBA season. His best years were with the Phoenix Suns although he has played the past few years for the Washington Wizards and done reasonably well. Morris has been severely limited this season due to injuries, but he was recently cleared to return to action.

Morris is used to playing 25 minutes and averaging 12 to 14 points a game and five or six rebounds. He is a solid if unspectacular NBA player.

Most of the speculation, however, has focused on the prospect that the Lakers will sign Anthony, a one-time superstar whose game has fallen off a cliff the past two seasons. The reasons are unclear, but after a short stay in Oklahoma City and an even shorter stay in Houston, two teams with championship aspirations, one must assume things were bad if he was unwanted by both.

Anthony only lasted 13 games this season with the Rockets and played in just 10 of those. He averaged 13 points a game and while his shooting statistics were not great, they weren’t that bad and it was a very small sample size.

The Rockets got off to a much slower start than expected this season, and with the campaign barely underway, announced that they were parting ways with Anthony.

Why would the Rockets so quickly abandon a player of Anthony’s stature after signing him in the offseason? No clear explanation was ever provided so one can only speculate.

Anthony averaged 20 or more points a game for 16 consecutive seasons, the most recent of which was only two years ago. His three-point shooting was nearly 36 percent for the Thunder last season, which is good. Yet, he has been essentially homeless since the first month of the season.

At this point, Anthony must know he is no longer going to start for any NBA team. He must also know that if he gets one more shot, he needs to give it everything he has left as it is his last chance. One would think he would jump at the chance to play for the Lakers, since LeBron James is one of his closest friends and L.A. is such a glamour franchise.

The question is, with Anthony being such a high risk/high reward prospect as a late-season addition, is it worth the risk that things could go terribly wrong and become yet another distraction which the team can ill afford?

If the Lakers sign Anthony, the only thing for certain is that the media will jump all over the story and the result will be a non-stop circus that could last the rest of the season.

Since James was injured on Christmas, the Lakers have been in a steep decline and is at risk of not making the playoffs. Morris, or a player like him, could make a modest contribution as he is a solid veteran. But he will not be a difference-maker.

Anthony, on the other hand, could fail miserably with the Lakers, but there is at least a small chance that he can channel his remaining talent one more time and be a difference-maker down the stretch and in the playoffs.

Of course, before they even consider signing him, the Lakers need to get a clear understanding of what happened in Houston.

If it was just a matter that he wanted to start and would not accept a backup role, that is a problem that can be overcome if Anthony is now willing to come off the bench. If, on the other hand, he literally has nothing left at age 34, it might not be worth the risk.

If the Lakers are really going to make a major push to make the playoffs this year with only 25 games left, signing Anthony could be tempting. It might be the kind of bold move that is necessary to shake the team out of its doldrums. Or it could be a disaster and contribute to the end of the Lakers’ playoff hopes.

It is up to the front office to make the right decision. Many pundits will publicly snicker at the thought of any team signing Anthony, especially the Lakers. But behind closed doors in El Segundo, it will be a more difficult decision than many people realize.

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As the NBA prepared for All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, the Los Angeles Lakers completed a disastrous week in which their only win was on a last second buzzer-beater against the Boston Celtics.

The aura around the team right now is very negative, and the mood is so dark that it threatens to derail the rest of the season if they do not get back on track during the break.

It was the kind of week that makes you wonder how much longer Luke Walton will remain head coach of the Lakers. Indications continue to point to at least through this season.

Here is a summary of what went right and what went wrong as the Lakers are headed in the wrong direction with a mere 25 games left on their schedule.

What Went Right

Two positives were team’s overall offensive display against the Celtics which led to a thrilling 129-128 victory, and Kyle Kuzma’s performance in the next game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Whenever the Lakers play the Celtics it is a big game, and if they are able to prevail it is always exciting. They fell behind by 18 points in the first half, but the Celtics, who were early-season favorites to make the Eastern Conference Finals, have been struggling themselves lately, which allowed the Lakers to cut into the deficit by halftime.

The Lakers had seven players finish in double-figures, including all five starters. LeBron James totaled 28 points and Kuzma finished with 25 points. Kuzma was 5-for-8 from behind the arc as the Lakers set a franchise record with 22 made three-point shots.

Like last season when he scored 16 points in the fourth quarter of a dramatic win, Kuzma again won his personal battle with Celtics’ celebrated second-year player Jayson Tatum.

Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each had 17 points in the win. The Lakers finished with an excellent 35 assists as the ball was really moving for the first time in a long time.

Brandon Ingram shot poorly, making only 4-of-14 attempts and finishing with 11 points. He did have seven assists, however, and he played tough defense. After the game, Celtics star Kyrie Irving praised Ingram’s defense, which was a good sign.

In the end, however, it was up to Rondo to win the game as the clock expired. Ingram went into a reckless, ill-advised drive to the rim where his shot was blocked, only to find its way into Rondo’s hands. He had the presence of mind to know the clock was expiring, so he put up a shot without missing a beat and it went in.

For a beleaguered team like the Lakers, it was a huge moment as elated players rushed onto the court to hug Rondo. At the time, it looked like this game might propel the Lakers for the rest of their road trip and could be a turning point in the season, but it was not to be.

The next game was a 143-120 loss to a stellar Philadelphia 76ers team that may be the favorite in the Eastern Conference after making astute moves at the trade deadline. The Lakers jumped out on top behind Kuzma’s 23 first-quarter points, but they could not hold on.

Perhaps it was relief that he was not traded at the deadline as had been heavily rumored, but Kuzma started the 76ers game with more aggressiveness than he had shown in quite some time.

As opposed to standing in the corner waiting for the ball, or slowing drifting around the perimeter watching his teammates over-dribble, Kuzma was fighting hard to get open every play in the first quarter against the 76ers and he was knocking down shots from all over the court.

Kuzma also had a strong third quarter, scoring 10 consecutive points during one stretch to help keep the Lakers in the game. But when he and James checked out late in the third quarter, the team fell apart and by the time he returned midway through the fourth quarter, the game was over.

What Went Wrong

The Lakers were blown out in Indiana, dropping the game by a whopping score of 136-94. They played with no focus or effort and were never in the game. Two days before, there was a reported heated exchange in the locker room between Walton and Michael Beasley, JaVale McGee, and of all people, Josh Hart.

The incident was splashed all over the national news while at the same time LaVar Ball was making the circuit blasting Walton and Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson. Ball also insinuated that Kuzma and Ingram are nothing without Lonzo Ball making them look good. This, too, created an enormous distraction during the week.

Of course, Lakers players were also dealing with non-stop trade rumors which involved the entire team and especially the entire young core who were reportedly offered to the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis.

While other teams made deals involving high profile players that were done in private, it seemed as though every move the Lakers were making was reported publicly and dissected by every member of the media.

The loss to the 76ers was understandable, as they are a very good team. What was not understandable, however, was the truly awful defense the Lakers played. After a strong start to the season, the Lakers’ defense has been the NBA’s worst in recent weeks.

With so much at stake going into the All Star break, the Lakers played another listless game with no sense of urgency against the Atlanta Hawks, and they lost 117-113. This was the lowest point in the season for the team, as it was a game they needed to win against a struggling opponent.

The body language of the team looked very bad against the Hawks. Certain veterans looked agitated, perhaps frustrated with Walton’s rotations. After Rondo’s stellar performance against the Celtics, Walton shocked everyone by sending him the bench for the next two games in favor of starting new acquisition Reggie Bullock.

McGee has looked upset for a while now, presumably because he was no longer starting. But with the shocking trade of Ivica Zubac, the position is McGee’s once again. For whatever reason, his solid play from earlier this season, that was such a pleasant surprise, has completely disappeared.

He looks slow and disinterested, especially on defense, which is a big part of the team’s defensive woes at the moment.

When describing the Lakers at the moment, the famous quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet comes to mind: “Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.” Something is indeed rotten with the Lakers, and the team needs to figure out over the All-Star break what is going on and why.

Finally, the worst thing about the loss to the Hawks was how bad James looked in the contest. He finished with a triple-double of 28 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds, but the truth is, he looked old and slow.

He had no explosiveness and was only 8-for-20 from the field. He had shot after shot blocked at the rim and did nothing in the fourth quarter when the team needed him most with the game on the line.

Where it was really embarrassing, however, was how little effort James put into playing defense. In key moments, Hawks’ players dribbled around him with ease to finish at the rim. It was a bad game for the Lakers and for James despite his triple-double.

To put it mildly, no team needed the All-Star break to finally arrive more than the Lakers. They have a big job ahead trying to turn the ship around as they have an almost impossible task ahead to make the playoffs.

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With less than two months remaining in the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers were expected to be a juggernaut by now but instead the opposite is true. The team has fallen from fourth place in the Western Conference to 10th place, and with 25 game remaining, they are three games out of the eighth spot.

Since LeBron James was injured on Christmas Day, the Lakers have been in a free-fall. When he finally returned to action at the end of January, things did not get better. Not only did the Lakers endure a 42-point massacre at the hands of the Indiana Pacers, they went into the All-Star break with a terrible loss to the lowly Atlanta Hawks.

The national media has written off the Lakers as riddled with internal strife, the victim of poor front office choices, bad coaching decisions, and too many injuries.

The Lakers can still make the playoffs, but they are going to have to return from the All-Star break with a totally new frame of mind. James will do his part, but three other players must really rise to the occasion if this season is going to be salvaged.

JaVale McGee

While the front office may have seen it differently entering training camp, others were very worried about the center position. The Lakers reportedly made little effort to re-sign Brook Lopez, last season’s starter and one of the better stretch big men in the game.

With Lopez off to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Lakers signed JaVale McGee to be the new starting center. The risks were obvious: McGee was injury-prone, a career reserve, and someone who had not played more than 10 to 15 minutes a night in years.

The Lakers’ front office believed that McGee was more talented than his career had shown and that in the right setting he could flourish.

McGee did indeed succeed during the first two months of the season, and it was a very pleasant surprise. He and James worked well together in the pick and roll offense, but it was on defense that McGee really shined.

He was leading the league in blocked shots at one point and gave the Lakers one of the NBA’s best rim protectors. McGee was eventually derailed by an unusual illness, which started as flu-like symptoms but ended up in pneumonia.

He missed seven games, and when he was finally able to return, he started slowly. So slowly, in fact, that he was supplanted by Ivica Zubac in the starting lineup.

For a while, head coach Luke Walton made the unusual decision to rotate three centers. Tyson Chandler was fatigued, however, and could not play every night, so Zubac was starting and McGee was coming off the bench.

After a particularly ugly loss to the Golden State Warriors, there was a reported incident in the locker room in which certain players confronted Walton about his rotations. One of those players was said to be Michael Beasley, and another being McGee.

The result of that heated discussion was that Beasley was traded, but instead of dispatching McGee with him, the team traded the promising Zubac and promoted McGee back into the starting lineup.

McGee has played very poorly on defense the past month, and his body language and demeanor have been the exact opposite of the player who seemed to be enjoying himself and his teammates earlier in the year.

The bottom line is this: For the Lakers to have any chance of making the playoffs this year, McGee has got to re-channel his efforts and enthusiasm on defense and play like the season means something and he wants to be a Laker.

Lonzo Ball

In his second NBA season, Lonzo Ball is already one of the most polarizing figures in the league. Often injured, and with his father making dreadful statements this past month about the front office, Ball’s coach and his teammates, it is a wonder that Ball was not traded before the deadline.

What is lost in all the craziness, however, is that Ball is a key to the Lakers success. His statistics are down this season overall, but that is a product of playing alongside James who does many of the same things that Ball is supposed to do. Ball is surprisingly the team’s best defender, and the Lakers’ utter collapse on defense coincided with his injury last month.

He can also knock down three-point shots, and when he is aggressive in getting into the paint, can find open teammates for easier scores. Ball really is someone who makes his teammates better, even if it is not always pretty.

Ball was playing better than at any time in his career when he was injured. He was aggressive, more vocal than usual, and playing with confidence. When Rajon Rondo was out with an injury, Ball thrived and was looking like a real leader, perhaps for the first time in his young career.

Like him or not, unless Ball returns soon and performs at the same high level he was playing before the injury, the Lakers will not make the playoffs. He is that important.

Ball is capable of doing magical things when he asserts himself, and the Lakers need some magic right now. He is special when he is focused, engaged, and aggressive.

At the moment, it is unclear when Ball will return from his ankle injury. When he does return, he may be rusty from a long layoff. Either way, without Ball playing at a high level, the Lakers’ chances of making the playoffs will be greatly diminished.

Kyle Kuzma

Kyle Kuzma has enjoyed big, eye-opening games this season, but he needs to do it more consistently if the Lakers are going to make the playoffs.

James can’t do it all by himself, and Brandon Ingram is not ready to be any team’s second scoring option on a nightly basis. If anyone is going to do it, Kuzma is that person. Without him scoring 20-plus points every night, and contributing on defense and on the boards, the Lakers will not make the playoffs.

When he sets his mind to being fully engaged and aggressive, Kuzma is a difference-maker. He has star quality written all over him, but he can’t settle for being streaky, he has to do it every night.

It was only an exhibition, but Kuzma was playing to win in the Rising Stars Challenge this past weekend, scoring 35 points and earning MVP honors.

As opposed to last season, however, when he had a certain swag and was aggressive every game, especially in the fourth quarter, this season Kuzma has spent too much time deferring to his teammates.

Too often he stands in the corner and watches as James, Rondo, Ingram, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Lance Stephenson dominate the ball.

For one of the few times this season, Kuzma was very aggressive from the start in a recent game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He was fighting to get open from the moment the game started and was not hesitating when he had an open shot.

The result was 23 first-quarter points. Equally important, he did not disappear in the second half, and during the third quarter scored 10 straight points to keep the Lakers in the game.

For the Lakers to make the playoffs, Kuzma has to put in all together in the remaining 25 games. He needs to bring it every moment of every game, and not just in the first quarter. As great as James is, the Lakers often get into trouble in the fourth quarter of games when he tries to do too much and everyone else, Kuzma included, stands around and watches.

Kuzma is averaging 19.1 points per game this season, which is good improvement over last year when he tied for the team lead at 16.1 points. He is going to have to do even better down the stretch of the season if the Lakers are going to make the playoffs.

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