After Wang Feng's 68-point victory over the Timberwolves, the Lakers played against the Phoenix Suns on January 27 and easily won 116:107. However, on January 29, they lost again at home against the Philadelphia 76ers.
In this game, 76ers insider Joel Embiid dominated the game, especially in the paint, scoring 36 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists on 16 of 20 shots.
The Lakers' interior defensive ability is still a bit poor. McGee's ability to protect the frame is there, but it is not that strong.
At least when facing Embiid, who has a hot hand, McGee can't guard him at all.
Later, Wang Feng also tried to defend Embiid, but although his interior defense reached 90, the effect was not very good because he did not have any badges related to interior defense.
After losing to the 76ers, the Lakers challenged the local rivals Los Angeles Clippers away on January 31.
The two teams fought fiercely until the last 2 minutes and the score was in a stalemate. However, as Wang Feng's key shooter activated, he scored 2 consecutive three-pointers and 2 mid- and long-range jumpers to score 10 points, helping the Lakers win in the end.
The Lakers won 123:120, with a 3-point advantage.
For the Clippers, James scored 24 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists. At the same time, 6 people on the team scored in double figures.
On the Lakers side, 4 players scored in double figures. Wang Feng scored 44 points, 14 rebounds and 4 steals.
The schedule in January has officially ended. In the 15 regular season games in January, the Lakers achieved a record of 10 wins and 5 losses. Although they are still far ahead in the record list, their record has obviously declined compared to the two months of November and December.
obvious.
But this is actually expected. As mentioned before, the Lakers' schedule in November and December is relatively easy, and the opponents are generally not strong. However, starting from February, the opponents the team faces have different levels of strength.
Quality improvement.
Teams such as the Warriors, Rockets, Clippers, Jazz and 76ers are not easy to deal with.
The schedule entering February is also not easy.
Due to the All-Star Weekend in February, there are only 9 games in the whole month, but the Lakers still have to face challenges from the Warriors, Celtics, 76ers, Rockets and other teams.
In January, the Western Conference Player of the Week was still awarded to James Harden. Harden was indeed the same as in another time and space. He had an explosive performance in January, averaging 42.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. Although the data were slightly different, they were different.
It's not big, except that the Rockets' record in January was only 8 wins and 6 losses.
So far in the season, the Rockets' sluggish state has finally begun to pick up, but their performance in the regular season is still far behind last season.
Wang Feng's data in January was slightly inferior to Harden's, but he averaged 41+12 in 15 games.
From the perspective of shooting percentage, Wang Feng is obviously more efficient than Harden, but the Lakers' record has become worse than last month, and even though the Rockets have 8 wins and 6 losses, their winning rate has improved compared to last month.
Therefore, the Player of the Month award was awarded to Harden.
Although he failed to beat Harden in the scoring competition in January, Wang Feng did not pay too much attention.
The two average points per game in January are close, which means that the point difference between the two sides has not been shortened too much. Wang Feng is still in the lead. This is enough!
The scoring competition between Wang Feng and Harden in January was truly a rare visual feast.
Looking at NBA history, it is extremely rare.
In January, Harden had 1 game with 60+ points, 2 games with 50+ points, and 5 games with 40+ points. In the remaining games, he only scored less than 35 points in one game, scoring 32 points. His performance was extremely shocking.
In January, Wang Feng scored 68 points in one game, 50+ points in one game, and 40+ points in 8 games. In the remaining games, he scored more than 30 points.
The result of this is that Harden's scoring average this season has directly increased from 34 points to 37.2 points, while Wang Feng's scoring average has reached 39.6 points, close to 40!
Below Wang Feng and Harden, Antetokounmpo, who is ranked third, only averages 27.9 points per game at this time, which is nearly 10 points behind Harden and 11.7 points lower than Wang Feng!
It can be said that this year's scoring champion has no suspense and at the same time there are many suspense.
One of Wang Feng and Harden will definitely become the scoring champion, and there cannot be a third competitor.
It's still hard to tell who of the two will win the scoring title in the end.
Wang Feng's offensive efficiency is higher, and he is 2.4 points ahead of Harden after 52 games in the regular season. Regardless of the 2.4-point difference, there is actually a total point difference of nearly 124 points.
In the last 30 games, if Harden wants to surpass Wang Feng in scoring average, he must maintain the same attendance rate as Wang Feng and at the same time score 124 more points than Wang Feng. How can this be so easy?
It is somewhat possible if Harden can still maintain the super output frequency of about 43 points per game in January in February and March, but Wang Feng will definitely increase his own shots when he sees Harden racking up points, becoming the leading scorer.
It is absolutely impossible for him to give it up to others, even if he is called a data brush!
…
The schedule has entered February, and the Lakers will immediately face the Warriors for the third time in early February.
On February 2, the Lakers challenged the Warriors away from home and lost the game 101:115. The regular season record of both sides became 1:2, with the Warriors coming from behind.
The loss in this game is really disappointing.
Before the game, Jimmy Butler, who had firmly established himself as the second-leading coach of the Lakers, felt uncomfortable due to a sprained ankle in the previous game, and finally decided to sit out this away game just to be on the safe side.
Without Butler, Wang Feng is left with only Ingram, Kuzma, Rondo and Rose. Naturally, it is impossible to compete with the Warriors who have a complete lineup, including Cousins can play.
Wang Feng scored a game-high 38 points and 11 rebounds. Ingram also scored 20 points. Kuzma, Rondo, Rose and Lopez all scored in double figures.
But this can't stand up to the five All-Stars on the Warriors' side.
Cousins had a rare highlight in this game, scoring 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists on 8-of-13 shooting in 25 minutes of limited playing time.
Curry, Durant, and Thompson scored 16 points, 21 points, and 28 points respectively.
If Butler plays in this game, the Lakers still have hope of winning. As long as the game can be dragged into the last 2 minutes and the score difference is not much different, Wang Feng will be sure to make a comeback or even give the Warriors another buzzer beater.
.
But unfortunately without Butler's assistance, the point difference had already climbed to 20 points after three quarters, and even Wang Feng was unable to save the situation.
Jimmy Butler's attendance rate in recent years is actually very good, especially in the playoffs in the following years, his performance was quite amazing. It is indeed quite hard to lead the Heat with such a lineup to the finals.
But in the 18-19 season, Butler's attendance rate in the regular season was indeed not particularly high. In another time and space, he only played 65 games. Now he only occasionally misses one or two games with the Lakers, which is already very good.