One of the joys of the NBA’s extended regular season is that it pushes beyond game plans, first options, and best-case scenarios. At some point, most every team will be without its most talented players, yet forced to strive towards the same goals. There isn’t time to throw out the playbook. In many cases, it wouldn’t make sense to completely reorient the offense. A short-handed team has little choice but to persist like some alternate universe version of itself, as uncanny as Eric Stoltz playing Marty McFly.
This curious space is where we find the Lakers, who have gone three consecutive games without LeBron James.