The Lakers weren’t able to hang on to beat the Pistons on Monday, but, all things considered, it’s little to be upset about. Hampered with injuries and clearly fatigued, both mentally and physically at the end of their road trip, an inability to close isn’t all that surprising.
Even if you want to take a less forgiving approach in the big picture than I just did, though, there were some small picture things that happened in that game which mattered too. Namely, Lonzo Ball bounced back from some of his recent struggles as a scorer to hit 7 of his 8 shots, including a couple of mid-range pull up jumpers out of the pick and roll that have been a weak spot for him nearly all season — and a major critique coming out of UCLA regarding his utility as an NBA level scorer at point guard.