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#LeBron #LeBronJames #Lakers #NBA #AnthonyDavis James’s first season in Los Angeles was full of defensive lowlights. But with Anthony Davis anchoring the paint, the Lakers have found an identity on the other side of the ball. The Lakers trailed by 17 points at halftime in Chicago on Tuesday, and by 13 points after the third quarter. A loss wouldn’t have been a disaster—no defeat this early in the season is—and the Lakers could have been forgiven for a letdown at the end of a road trip, having already won five games in a row. But these Lakers weren’t content to capitulate. After pouring in 93 points over the first three quarters, the Bulls managed just four in the first eight minutes of the fourth, as L.A. embarked on a 29-4 run to steal a 118-112 road win. What sparked the comeback? A surprising scoring surge with Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the bench—and a defensive improvement that, based on the first two weeks of the season, isn’t much of a surprise at all. “As t

#NBA #NBAFinals #Warriors #Raptors The Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors 131-128 on Nov. 29, 2018 and then again 113-93 on Dec. 12, 2018 to complete the regular-season sweep. But the stakes are much higher as the 2019 NBA Finals get underway with Game 1 of Warriors vs. Raptors at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday evening. It's the fifth-straight finals appearance for Golden State and the first ever for Toronto. There's been plenty of line movement with Toronto opening as a 1-point underdog, but now going off as a 1.5-point favorite in the latest Warriors vs. Raptors odds. The over-under for total points is set at 213, down 2.5 points from the opening line. Before laying any Warriors vs. Raptors picks of your own down, be sure to see the NBA Finals 2019 predictions from the proven projection model at SportsLine.  This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, is crushing its NBA picks. It entered the 2019 NBA Finals with a sterling record on its top-rated picks, re

#FrankVogel #MagicJohnson #LosAngelesLakers #Coach #NBA  During the hiring process, the Lakers told Frank Vogel something that was immediately reinforced in his first week at work: This ain’t Indiana. That manifested in topsy-turvy fashion on Monday morning, as Vogel spent most of his 26-minute introductory press conference as head coach of the Lakers silently listening as his general manager handled accusations of backstabbing from the outgoing team president. It didn’t throw the 45-year-old New Jersey native off his message – that he’s here to instill a positive, forward-thinking culture to a franchise in need of one – but even Vogel acknowledged it was a little outside his normal operating procedure. “It’s a little different,” Vogel said. “Definitely different than I expected and different than I’ve ever been a part of. But I understand the line of questioning, in light of the events of this morning, so you just roll with the punches.” If nothing else, Vogel rolled in

#LeBron #NBA #Basketball #LosAngelesLakers #Lakers LeBron James believes this offseason will be "critical" for himself and the Los Angeles Lakers after the franchise missed the postseason for the sixth consecutive year. "I've never played fantasy basketball," James told Bleacher Report in a story published Wednesday. "But I will be as active as I need to be for this franchise to get better. That's why I came here. I came here to win. And obviously, we need to get better, as far as our personnel. We have an opportunity to get better. And there's a lot of talent out there and a lot of guys that can help our franchise. So I'll be as active as I need to be for us to get better and go from there." With the playoffs out of the picture, the Lakers will enter into an offseason rife with speculation about the job security of coach Luke Walton as well as the construction of the roster. Seven of Los Angeles' 14 players are set to hit free a