Lakers fans are inconsolable after losing 96-110 to the Heat with Anthony Davis (29 PTS, 17 REB) and LeBron James (12 PTS, 9 AST) available.
The Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves in a hole once again after losing 96-110 to the Miami Heat at home. This is their 18th loss of the season, dropping them below .500 with their ninth loss in the last 12 games. Fans are extremely worried about the season, as all of their struggles are with a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis duo.
LeBron’s disappointing performance looked like that of a 39-year-old and fans let him know.
LeBron tonight pic.twitter.com/a3jVYldoNv
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) January 4, 2024
Fans aren’t moved with the LeBron at point guard experiment the Lakers have tried in recent games.
“Point Lebron”
“This is why you put LeBron at PG”
“We winning 5 straight”Lakers fans😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/gse1p2aPbC
— 𝙁𝙞𝙜𝙨☆⚀ (@30_dynasty) January 4, 2024
Laker fans can’t believe they’ve fallen so far behind the Clippers who started 0-6 after trading for James Harden.
Clippers started 0-6 with James Harden and still got a better record than the Lakers pic.twitter.com/kOYJyUqPWD
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) January 4, 2024
Fans couldn’t believe the nightmarish shooting performance by the team.
LAKERS PLAYERS FROM 3 TONIGHT:
Reddish 0-1
LeBron 0-6
Prince 0-5
Wood 0-2
Christie 2-92-23
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) January 4, 2024
Fans termed the performance horrific with low effort on both sides of the ball.
Just a horrific performance from the Lakers tonight. Lethargic and non-threatening on both ends of the floor.
— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) January 4, 2024
Lakers fans are awaiting the announcement of Darvin Ham getting fired.
“After falling under .500 the Los Angeles Lakers have informed head Coach Darvin Ham that he will be fired.” pic.twitter.com/EJHYYO1J2u
— Juan 🇸🇻 (@LOLL________) January 4, 2024
Fans were stunned to see the Lakers in this position even with LeBron James and Anthony Davis as healthy contributors.
LeBron and AD been healthy all year and we below .500 35 games into the season
DARVIN HAM GOTTA GO IMMEDIATELY
— 𝓛𝓛💫 (@HoodiiBron) January 4, 2024
The Lakers didn’t stand a chance when they only got 12 points on 6-18 shooting from LeBron James, even with six rebounds and nine assists. Anthony Davis looked dominant with 29 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and five blocks but was let down by his teammates. Austin Reaves had a strong outing in his return to the starting lineup with 24 points and eight assists.
The Heat were without Jimmy Butler but managed to ride all eight rotational players scoring in double-digits, led by Tyler Herro’s 21 points. Jaime Jaquez Jr. stepped up in Butler’s absence and contributed 16 points with eight assists, while Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo both registered 15 points on the night.
The Lakers May Need A Coaching Change
Whenever teams with high expectations underachieve to the extent the Lakers have, a coaching change is rarely far away. Ham’s job wasn’t threatened last year when the Lakers were out of the playoff picture until the end of the season, but that was an issue with the roster. This year’s roster was built to his supposed strengths but he hasn’t found a way to make it work.
Unless the Lakers have a season-saving trade in their back pocket like they did last year, Ham might be the expendable piece the Lakers try to replace. The players have complementary skillsets but it hasn’t been utilized to the maximum by Ham’s rotations, The recent ‘new’ starting lineup he introduced has been among the worst lineups in the NBA, with Ham failing to identify the problems his team has.
The scoring deficit on the roster is intense, and the Lakers need to either find a coach who can utilize their strengths or pray another trade can save them. Otherwise, many eligible coaching candidates would be waiting in the wings to replace Ham if needed.
