The two main forces of the Suns are officially back from beating the Lakers! The Lakers fought hard to qualify for the NBA Cup ahead of schedule

Two days into the Lakers' game against the Nuggets, it's still a bit unnerving. The Nuggets are a bitter host for the Lakers, as we all know. The Lakers have won only one of the last 14 games against the Nuggets, and the difficulty can be imagined.

Redick said after the team's practice today that after watching the video of the game against the Nuggets, the conclusion was that the Lakers seemed to have stopped the game suddenly in the third quarter. He said they discussed the matter this morning and believed it was just an anomaly and would not happen again.

Since the 2022-23 season, Lakers players have accumulated plus/minus when they play against the Nuggets: Thick Eyebrows -95, Hachimura -54, Reaves -32, Vincent -26, Russell -22, James -1.

Everyone knows that thick eyebrows will drop their physical strength very seriously when they go to top tough centers on the court, especially against Jokic, the league's No. 1 center. The Lakers need a strong interior line to help thick eyebrows share the pressure, but unfortunately, the Lakers have no one inside. In addition to the thick eyebrows, the only one who can play is a substitute center Koloko.

NBA reporter Brett Siegel recently reported that Olynyk, Lowe and Varan are the big men who have been marked by the management of various teams in the league as the most likely to leave the current team before the trade deadline, among which Lowe has the most market, the Lakers, the Pelicans, and the Kings have expressed interest in him as early as the offseason.

Another center for the Lakers, Hayes, has missed several games after suffering an ankle sprain in practice. Head coach Redick said today that Hayes is likely to return tomorrow when he plays the Suns. The Lakers have missed his size and athleticism off the bench. Hayes himself says he feels good in his ankle after training over the past few days and he's ready to come back tomorrow.

The Lakers' opponent tomorrow is the Suns, and it's an NBA Cup group game. On the side of the sun, the two main forces also ushered in an official comeback. Durant and Beal are scheduled to play tomorrow after Durant missed seven games with a left calf strain and Beal missed five games with a calf strain.

Good guys, one by one, as soon as the Lakers come back.

The Lakers don't need to strengthen the front line, and the problem of the guard line is still quite serious. Russell, who is in a contract year with high expectations, has averaged per game this season:
11.2 career low
5.0 assists, the third lowest in his career
2.3 rebounds for a career-low
Shooting 38.2 percent from the field, a career-low
He shot 28.9 percent from three-point range, a career-low percentage

This is the data that should be played in the contract year? Don't want to work hard for your next long-term contract? For comparison, Schroder is also in a contract year, averaging 18 points, 6.5 assists (career high), 2.7 three-pointers (career high), and 41.4% three-point shooting (career high) per game this season.

And that Vincent, I don't want to talk about it. Points, rebounds and assists are 0 in many games, which is what a person with a salary of 11 million can do?

Injury expert Evan Jeffries gives advice to the Lakers:

First, you must trade a center and 3D as soon as possible, and you can't rest on your laurels in the West, losing 2-3 games and you may fall out of the play-off zone.

Second, we don't like to pull Knecket out of the starting XI when he's in good shape, and he has to be rewarded for his touch and chemistry.

Today, the Lakers took a special plane to Phoenix to prepare for tomorrow's NBA Cup group stage against the Suns. This is the Lakers' third group game, and a win will give the Lakers an early qualification. The Lakers are 3-2 in the last 5 games, and the Suns are 0-5, but ESPN gives the Lakers a win rate of only 43.5%, after all, Durant and Beal have both returned.

In order to be able to qualify for the group in advance, in order to end this two-game losing streak, the Lakers will have to fight tomorrow.