SlamOnline throughout the season, measures a team's efficiency on a 0 to 100 scale with 50 as the average. All season, the Lakers were among the league's best eight teams, hanging around the 63 mark with Kobe heading up to the playoffs. Even without Kobe in Game 1, the Lakers were decent at a 57.2 nERD score.
But now? Without those three guards, the Lakers drop all the way to a 52.7 nERD score for Game 3. That puts them squarely as basically an average team, even with Dwight and Pau manning the paint. By the way, the Spurs are not an average team: their 66.5 nERD score ranks fifth in the NBA.
Our daily stat projections don't hold much hope for Goudelock and Morris, either. You know about Nash's 12.7 points and 6.7 assists per game this year, and both Meeks and Blake averaged over 10 points per 36 minutes as well. While the points may still be there, we'd be less than enthusiastic for the two guards tonight.
| Player | Minutes | Points | Assists | Rebounds | Steals | Turnovers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Goudelock | 31.5 | 13.2 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| Darius Morris | 35.7 | 10.3 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.9 |
With Goudelock, it's next to impossible to tell exactly how he's going to play. Those stats are based off of his 2012 numbers in 40 games with the Lakers; he only played one regular season game with them this year. But one thing's for sure: those numbers aren't going to help you beat the fifth-best team in the NBA.
The injury bug is never something you plan for, but it's absolutely something that can decimate a team. The Lakers are learning this lesson the hard way. It was a good run to make the playoffs in the first place over Utah, but that run will likely be coming to an end quicker than most Lakers fans had dreamed it would.