When historians write the game of basketball’s story, they will ignore the fact that, on January 15, 2017, the Los Angeles Lakers played the Detroit Pistons. It was that kind of night.
The story from the game, first and foremost, is the continued up-and-down nature of the Lakers’ production. At one point, they led by 14 and seemed to have the game under control. Then, the second quarter happened and they found themselves in a slugfest the rest of the way.
A team like the Lakers cannot afford to let other teams stick around, and they learned the hard way Sunday night.