Destroy them.
That's essentially the new mantra of Los Angeles Lakers chucker Nick Young, who, per Lakers.com's Mike Trudell, is imploring his teammates to play villainous basketball to close out the season:
I'll say this: Swaggy P has spirit.
And a wicked-awesome haircut.
But mostly the spirit thing.
At 24-46, the injury-depleted Lakers have nothing tangible to play for—unless you consider tanking for Dante Exum in front of Dante Exum something to play for.
Instead of falling into an incurably listless, spiritless state, though, Young is manipulating Los Angeles' collective morale and sense of purpose through the magic of evil-doing.
With so many teams hoping to secure a playoff spot between now and season's end, the Lakers have an opportunity to play unabashed spoiler. If they're going down, they have the option of bringing a few playoff hopefuls with them.
Swaggy P's reign of dream-dismantling terror began Tuesday against the New York Knicks. After falling behind by eight points in the first quarter, the Lakers came storming back, taking an eight-point lead into halftime before blowing the game wide open with a franchise-best 51-point third quarter.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers had embarrassed the Knicks, winning 127-96, putting New York's already dwindling playoff hopes on life support.
"We hit shots all over the place," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said afterward, per the Associated Press (via USA Today). "It's infectious."
Remaining Lakers opponents better hope that's not true.
The Lakers have 12 games remaining this season, a final stretch that includes matchups against the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Golden State W...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
