The rookie had five points and two steals in his eight minutes, as the Lakers extended their lead from four points to 13. That’s not even mentioning that all three players can handle the ball along with the likes of Lou Williams, Landry Shamet and Reggie Jackson.All one needs to is look at James 3-6 record in the Finals when he leads teams that are simply overmatched against their opposition.The Lakers have had a tremendous regular season. 1 seed essentially locked up entering the season restart on July 30. But the fact that they’ll be without Bradley for the entire season restart while.The Clippers are about nine players deep in their rotation and they now possess arguably the deepest team in the NBA. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the issue of overly relying on LeBron James as the team’s ball-handler is a legit concern. That is simply a major problem for the Lakers moving forward.Bradley and Rondo aren’t statistical monsters by any means at this point of their careers, but their defensive abilities and playoff experience are major losses for a team that is looking to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy this season. https://sports.yahoo.com/why-lakers-being-gifted-lopsided-021725444.html I currently work as an editor covering both the NFL and NBA at ClutchPoints.© 2020 Forbes Media LLC. But I don't have a doubt these guys are going to be ready to come back and play hard like they did in the fourth quarter. In those 18 starts, the Lakers went 15-3 and Caldwell-Pope averaged 10.9 points per game.While the Lakers have proven they can win just fine with Caldwell-Pope in the starting lineup, remember that the team is now missing Rondo for the next six-to-eight weeks due to a fractured right thumb. Between the two guards, they’ve combined for 144 career starts in the postseason.Rondo does have his limitations at this stage of his career.If the Lakers want to get to the NBA Finals, they’ll likely have to match up against their crosstown rivals in the conference finals. He gets to the paint with his runners, with his floaters.Harden had few answers for why the Rockets seemed so flat Thursday, with so much on the line.The Lakers contested 10 of Harden's 11 field goal attempts Thursday, throwing seven different defenders at him. The Rockets' season is now on the brink. Smith is the Lakers' roster replacement for Avery Bradley, who cited family reasons for his decision not to finish the season. The Lakers’ lead was 62-51 at the half after the Rockets turned 13 Los Angeles turnovers into 15 points, the biggest reason why Houston was still in the game to that point.Houston got within seven on a drive by Westbrook 2:09 into the third, and that was the last real gasp of hope for the Rockets. That’s not even mentioning the fact that the former hasn’t played since November of 2018 while the latter has appeared in just three games this season.Between the likes of Caruso, Smith, Waiters and Quinn Cook — he has shot 32 percent from the field in non-rotation minutes — the Lakers will have to find a way to replace 45 minutes of playing time per game.Prior to the last several days, it appeared as if the Lakers were in the driver’s seat to hoist their 17th championship at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.However, if the Lakers can’t find more players to take the load off of a 17th-year James entering an absolutely stacked Western Conference playoff field, this season is going to end a lot like six of James’ previous appearances in the Finals — just short of an NBA championship.I have covered the NFL, NBA and pro wrestling for major media outlets over the past 10 years. It’s his ninth time getting to this round in the last 10 seasons; the one miss in that stretch was last season, when his inaugural year with the Lakers fell apart because of injury and the team missed the playoffs.“The opportunity to play for a championship, that’s what we’re all here for, that’s what we all signed up for,” James said.James Harden scored 30 points, Jeff Green scored 13 and Russell Westbrook had 10 for Houston.“Tough season for us,” Harden said.