The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Boston Celtics during the NBA’s Tuesday night action in a game that not many people believed would be competitive. Those people looked like they would be proven correct for the first half, as Boston held a 15-point lead and led by as many as 20 points in the game. However, the script was flipped in the second half of the game.
The Lakers stormed back, as they led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter with 4:25 to go in the game. Boston turned it back on at that point, as they outscored Los Angeles 17-4 for the remainder of the game to force overtime. In extra time, the Celtics outscored the Lakers 12-8 to come away with a 122-118 victory.
It was another devastating loss for Los Angeles, who has been playing better of late but has struggled closing out games. They have been beaten by buzzer-beaters or teams making late-game runs numerous times this season, as what occurred Tuesday night is nothing new.
Being as recognizable of a team as the Lakers are, they get a ton of games on national television no matter how bad they are performing. Now 11-16 on the season, the Lakers are closer to last place in the Western Conference than a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
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A lot of people are tired of watching them play, including Charles Barkley, who is an analyst on TNT. He tore into the Lakers, going on a rant about how bad of a team they are and questioning why they are getting the attention they do despite their poor performance.
“The Lakers stink. Y’all forcing us to show them all the time like they’re going to be good…There’s a conspiracy.”
The Lakers are on TV because they essentially print money for the league. They have multiple marketable stars in LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, who have fans all around the world. But, Barkley does make some good points.
There isn’t a losing team in the league that gets talked about this frequently, referencing how little the Washington Wizards, the 12th-place team in the Eastern Conference, is talked about. But, the Wizards aren’t a national brand like the purple and gold and while they have solid players such as Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma, they don’t compare to the star power of the Lakers.
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Alas, Barkley isn’t alone in his sentiment. All of these nationally televised games are decided during the offseason, but basketball fans would love to see other teams playing well this season get some more air time over the struggling Lakers.
