A 44-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night has sparked major questions about your Los Angeles Lakers’ fitness to compete at the highest levels this season.
Plenty can be critiqued, whether it be the inconsistency of Anthony Davis his struggles against top-tier big men, the team’s collective shooting woes, their team defense, and more.
Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic, James is convinced that “a lot” about the Lakers needs to be adjusted for the club to contend.
LeBron’s comments, or lack thereof, well-summarize the situation. LA is struggling on both sides of the ball, as even in a game with over a quarter of garbage time, the Lakers failed to eclipse the 100-point mark.
Defensively, the list of issues is endless, as throughout the game, players were getting beat on back cuts, in one-on-one situations, off of ball-screens, off of off-ball screens, and more.
The existing personnel Los Angeles has may not be enough to win a championship, and while that is clear quite frequently, the team’s ability to play a lot of games close and use their veteran savviness to escape with victories has created the false notion that their current roster is sufficient.
Today, LA shot a pathetic 25% from beyond the arc, and only generated 13 free throws all game. For a team that has inconsistent shooting, they have to be more aggressive.
They were also killed on the glass, being out-rebounded 48-32 and ceding 15 offensive rebounds to the Sixers. The critical issue with this is how LA’s size is a supposed advantage against nearly every team in the league – Philly included.
So, given that, the expectation would be that they don’t get blown out on the boards, since that only makes their existing deficiencies (shooting, limiting turnovers, shot creation) that much worse.
The Lakers had 17 turnovers to Philadelphia’s 5 as well, which is an indictment on both LA’s offense and defense. For a team that prides itself on defense and physicality, forcing only 5 turnovers across an entire game paired with turning it over frequently themselves is hardly a winning recipe, even if your shots are falling.
LA has a lot to fix – that’s indisputable. Whether this kind of loss incites Rob Pelinka to make a deal, or Darvin Ham just employs a reconstructed approach to winning games is uncertain, but one way or another, this style of play won’t work down the stretch.
