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USA Today via Reuters

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USA Today via Reuters

How impressive are winning streaks? That is the question coming out of the Utah Jazz’s latest victory. Despite stringing together an impressive run over the past week, their performance isn’t getting a lot of attention. As it turns out, one Los Angeles Lakers legend doesn’t believe their play is that substantial. His reasoning, on some level, however, does make sense.

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5x champion Derek Fisher believes that it is a regular occurrence for teams. “This is where the regular season, kind of, fools us more than any other time in the NBA. Because you’re playing against these teams during the season. If you’re playing against the [Dallas] Mavericks and there’s no Kyrie [Irving] or no Luka [Doncic]. If it’s a back-to-back.” However, Fish wasn’t done yet.

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“If you play against the [Philadelphia] 76ers and there’s no [Joel] Embiid. You play against the [Denver] Nuggets and Jamal Murray is out.” Then, the conversation would finally come to tonight’s game.

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“You play against the Lakers and there’s no LeBron. So, all of a sudden you look up and teams are winning games and everybody’s like, ‘How did they get to that point?'” The solution for judging teams is simple for D-Fish, though.

“The teams that are actually advancing in the playoffs are actually the good teams.” However, there is one aspect that Derek isn’t looking into that brings skepticism to his overall point.

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Isn’t the point of an 82-game schedule that every team faces the same circumstances? While the players’ reasoning does sound fair in theory, in practice, every team deals with that kind of advantage at some point in the year. For a legend as stoutly on point with his analysis, this may have been a rare miscue, leading to fans bashing him on social media.

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But, either way, with another loss, the Lakers’ pressure continues to mount.

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Despite an In-Season Tournament triumph, the team is splintering apart. Whether it be coaching changes, roster movement, or rotational questions, the team is full of holes. With ideas for a trade involving Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray floating around, could some new legs change the scenario in Los Angeles?

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For parts of the season, the team has shown its talent and pedigree, climbing as high as 4th in the standings. But consistency remains a question. With all players eligible for trade after January 15th, are some major moves incoming? Utah’s own Lauri Markkanen could also be a trade candidate.

It’s going to be an eventful January in LA. Let’s hope it is for the better for the team.

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Read More: “AD Can’t Do This..”: Austin Reaves Prophecies Anthony Davis’ Criticism Despite Historic Night in Loss

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Priyanshu

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Priyanshu is an NBA beat Writer at EssentiallySports, with a healthy command over the technical aspects of the sport. Priyanshu has creatively covered the often entertaining interactions between legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley along with in-depth analysis of the games. He was at the forefront of the 2023 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony, covering each and every aspect of the historic night in Springfield, Massachusetts. Furthermore, his article on Shaq and the UFC garnered close to a million pageviews. Moving away from the world of sports, Priyanshu is also an avid gamer, who can display other-worldly skills on NBA 2K.

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Pragya Vashisth

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