Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.
Watching LeBron James will the Los Angeles Lakers to a win over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals was truly a sight to behold.
In a game with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Anthony Davis on the floor, the ageless wonder was still the best player out there, getting a bucket or finding an open teammate every time the Suns crept their way back into striking distance.
Though the Los Angeles Lakers nearly blew the game — and got a big boost from an awful officiating blunder at the end — James pushed them into the semis with 31 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists and the only positive plus-minus by a Lakers starter (plus-12).
Related: The Lakers’ loose ball phantom timeout might be the worst call by NBA officials this season
It’s become an annual tradition for us to say James can’t keep playing at this level at his age, but each year he proves us wrong, dunking on father time harder than the year before. He’s why it’s difficult to completely count out the Lakers as NBA title contenders — their 22-1 odds at BetMGM are tied for seventh-best. James is also why I think that bar is too high. An NBA In-Season Tournament title may be as good as it gets for the Lakers.
That James has to be so great for them to win games by the slimmest of margins for a 13-9 record with a negative point differential is concerning. It’s great that the almost 39-year-old can do things we’ve quite literally never seen from someone his age, but if it’s futile to question his abilities, it’s not unreasonable to wonder if he can hold up while doing these things.
James has only reached 60 games in a season one time in his five years with the Lakers. We saw him break down again last season, nursing a foot injury throughout their playoff run. Any significant injury to James this year could be catastrophic for their chances to get back to the Western Conference Finals.
The Lakers’ offense is 15.73 points per 100 possessions worse when James is off the floor, per PBP Stats, which is significantly worse than it was last season without James. Their 101.342 offensive rating without James would be last in the NBA by a lot, and not nearly good enough to offset his negative defensive rating. Anthony Davis is capable of picking up some of the offensive slack, but he’s demonstrated himself to be inconsistent in that regard. So if James has to miss any time, the Lakers could be in a bind.
That’s all before we get to the big bad wolf in the West, the Denver Nuggets, who the Lakers couldn’t get past last season. Even if James does hold up and both teams are at full strength, the reigning champs would be a considerable favorite. There’s a reason passive-aggressive LeBron resurfaced last week after the Lakers lost by 44 points to the Philadelphia 76ers. He knows they’re far from where they need to be.
Up next is a meeting with the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Lakers are favored by 1.5 points at BetMGM. James is the reason they have a chance to win that game and go the distance for the inaugural in-season tournament title. It’ll be a good thing if they do, because barring changes that allow him to take a step back, that’s likely as good as it’ll get.
Does the tournament = clutch?
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
As good as LeBron James was Tuesday, there may not have been a more clutch performance in the tournament so far than what we saw from Tyrese Haliburton the night before.
Haliburton’s four-point play against the Boston Celtics capped a phenomenal performance, putting the nail in Boston’s coffin to send the Indiana Pacers to the semifinals. And he did it in front of a national audience the Pacers aren’t accustomed to having.
Just a year removed from the NBA debuting its Clutch Player of the Year award, the stakes of an in-season tournament might just be a new way to highlight the league’s best candidates for the award. Especially considering the playoffs can’t be factored in.
Whether intentional or not, it seems to already be translating in the betting world, because Haliburton now has the highest handle percentage at BetMGM for bets on Clutch Player of the Year. In fact, almost half the money bet on the award is on Haliburton at 45.4 percent. It’s a complete shift from a week ago when DeMar DeRozan had the highest handle at 9.9 percent. Two months ago, it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 23.4 percent.
There are other ways to define clutch, including actual clutch stats defined as anything that happens in the last five minutes of a game within five points. But showing up in games where money and a trophy are on the line also show how clutch a player is and might just factor in when it’s award time.
One to Watch
(All odds via BetMGM)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Oklahoma City Thunder (-115) at Houston Rockets (+1.5; -105), 8:10 p.m. ET
OKC is on the road for this tilt against the Rockets, but when it comes to picking a winner, it really just comes down to the Thunder being a better team for me. I don’t really see the need to overthink this one. I like OKC to win and cover 1.5 points.
Shootaround
—Hornets president and vice chairman Fred Whitfield steps down for health reasons
—Fan dies during the Kings-Pelicans game after medical emergency
That’s it from me y’all. Check back Friday for more Layup Lines.
