LOS ANGELES – Finally back at Crypto.com Arena after a brutal December in which they were seemingly perpetually on the road and sliding in the standings, the Los Angeles Lakers looked like strangers in their own home in defeat 110-96 Wednesday night against the Miami Heat.
The schedule was supposed to be favorable for the Lakers heading into the new year, with 11 of their first games starting Jan. 12 in Los Angeles, but the Heat – with their star, Jimmy Butler, out for the second straight game due to irritation of the right foot. — this was the team that looked comfortable.
“It’s a little bit of everything right now,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said afterward, explaining how his team went 2-8 in its last 10 years to fall to 10th in the Western Conference. “We’re not executing. This team played harder than us tonight, executed better than us tonight, more physical than us tonight. We were outworked tonight, so that’s kind of everything right now .
“If we continue to take this train, it will not be good for us.”
It was especially bad early against the Heat. Miami led by 11 points in the first quarter, with Los Angeles coughing up 10 turnovers in the first quarter while shooting 6 of 18 from the field (0 of 7 on 3-pointers), looking lost against the Heat’s zone. defense.
“They created a zone and they just challenged us to shoot, but we didn’t,” said Anthony Davis, who led Los Angeles with 29 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks, but also Recorded a team-high five turnovers. “It kind of took us out of our thing, but 10 turnovers in the first quarter was kind of a recipe for disaster.”
Playing for the first time with a starting lineup of Davis, LeBron James, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince and Austin Reaves, LA looked disjointed on the offensive end and disconnected on the defensive end, especially in the fourth quarter when Miami scored 38 points on 58.3% shooting. while going 6 for 11 from 3.
The Lakers, meanwhile, shot 4 of 30 (13.3%) from deep for the game. Ham said a revolving door of injuries has hampered his group. Reddish returned from a groin injury at the same time Rui Hachimura missed his first game with a Grade 1 left calf strain and D’Angelo Russell missed a second straight game with a bruised tailbone.
“We can’t find any consistency until we’re healthy. It’s that simple. We have to be healthy,” Ham said. “When you’re dealing with different guys coming in and out of the lineup so frequently, it’s almost impossible to find a rhythm. It’s just being real.”
Los Angeles’ dramatic fall in the standings since winning the league’s first tournament of the season has made it difficult to determine what this team is capable of. But it is clear that frustration is starting to mount.
James, after scoring a game-high 12 points on 6-of-18 shooting, left the arena without speaking to reporters, a rarity for the 21-year veteran.
Reaves said the team’s mood was “s—ty.”
“We’re losing,” Reaves said after his 24 points and eight assists went to no avail. “Every time you lose, the mood should be off, you know? If I went in [the locker room] and the atmosphere was not bad after the difficult period we went through, then I would be worried. That’s really it. You know, I don’t expect us to be happy with the way we played. So until we figure that out, you know, the vibe should be off. We have to win games. »
Reaves later clarified his comments, adding: “When I say the mood is off, it’s not like we don’t like each other. It’s that we’re losing. … But I don’t want to that it reflects on us, no. love each other. Everyone in the locker room gets along well.
The question of clarification was important. After all, last year’s team — which needed to improve both its on-court performance and off-court chemistry — was completely overhauled in a series of trades at the deadline.
These Lakers are not asking for outside help. At least not yet.
“We need to attack and be more competitive, but we need guys to step up and play better,” Ham said. “The reason we signed them is because we know what they can do. And so you have to come with that confidence every night and you have to fight. Things don’t go your way , you can’t find yourself in the corner somewhere and go crying about it. You have to step up and try to see how you can best help your team succeed.
Ham added that he would consider returning to the starting lineup of James, Davis, Reaves, Vanderbilt and Russell that Los Angeles used throughout last season and in the first two rounds of the playoffs, once Russell will be healthy.
“I think anything that makes sense is on the table,” Ham said. “No stone should be left unturned. We are here to explore everything we can to right the ship.”
Davis said LA will try to find its feet Friday at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, the team it beat in the first round of the last playoffs.
“We just have to compete, play hard and come out with a must-win mentality, and hopefully that can propel us to get back to .500 on Friday and then kind of put together a home streak,” he said. he declares. said. “I mean, we’ve been a really good home team so far, and we’ve had the opportunity to continue to build on that.
“But if we play like we played tonight, then it’s going to go really bad for us.”
LOS ANGELES – Finally back at Crypto.com Arena after a brutal December in which they were seemingly perpetually on the road and sliding in the standings, the Los Angeles Lakers looked like strangers in their own home in defeat 110-96 Wednesday night against the Miami Heat.
The schedule was supposed to be favorable for the Lakers heading into the new year, with 11 of their first games starting Jan. 12 in Los Angeles, but the Heat – with their star, Jimmy Butler, out for the second straight game due to irritation of the right foot. — this was the team that looked comfortable.
“It’s a little bit of everything right now,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said afterward, explaining how his team went 2-8 in its last 10 years to fall to 10th in the Western Conference. “We’re not executing. This team played harder than us tonight, executed better than us tonight, more physical than us tonight. We were outworked tonight, so that’s kind of everything right now .
“If we continue to take this train, it will not be good for us.”
It was especially bad early against the Heat. Miami led by 11 points in the first quarter, with Los Angeles coughing up 10 turnovers in the first quarter while shooting 6 of 18 from the field (0 of 7 on 3-pointers), looking lost against the Heat’s zone. defense.
“They created a zone and they just challenged us to shoot, but we didn’t,” said Anthony Davis, who led Los Angeles with 29 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks, but also Recorded a team-high five turnovers. “It kind of took us out of our thing, but 10 turnovers in the first quarter was kind of a recipe for disaster.”
Playing for the first time with a starting lineup of Davis, LeBron James, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince and Austin Reaves, LA looked disjointed on the offensive end and disconnected on the defensive end, especially in the fourth quarter when Miami scored 38 points on 58.3% shooting. while going 6 for 11 from 3.
The Lakers, meanwhile, shot 4 of 30 (13.3%) from deep for the game. Ham said a revolving door of injuries has hampered his group. Reddish returned from a groin injury at the same time Rui Hachimura missed his first game with a Grade 1 left calf strain and D’Angelo Russell missed a second straight game with a bruised tailbone.
“We can’t find any consistency until we’re healthy. It’s that simple. We have to be healthy,” Ham said. “When you’re dealing with different guys coming in and out of the lineup so frequently, it’s almost impossible to find a rhythm. It’s just being real.”
Los Angeles’ dramatic fall in the standings since winning the league’s first tournament of the season has made it difficult to determine what this team is capable of. But it is clear that frustration is starting to mount.
James, after scoring a game-high 12 points on 6-of-18 shooting, left the arena without speaking to reporters, a rarity for the 21-year veteran.
Reaves said the team’s mood was “s—ty.”
“We’re losing,” Reaves said after his 24 points and eight assists went to no avail. “Every time you lose, the mood should be off, you know? If I went in [the locker room] and the atmosphere was not bad after the difficult period we went through, then I would be worried. That’s really it. You know, I don’t expect us to be happy with the way we played. So until we figure that out, you know, the vibe should be off. We have to win games. »
Reaves later clarified his comments, adding: “When I say the mood is off, it’s not like we don’t like each other. It’s that we’re losing. … But I don’t want to that it reflects on us, no. love each other. Everyone in the locker room gets along well.
The question of clarification was important. After all, last year’s team — which needed to improve both its on-court performance and off-court chemistry — was completely overhauled in a series of trades at the deadline.
These Lakers are not asking for outside help. At least not yet.
“We need to attack and be more competitive, but we need guys to step up and play better,” Ham said. “The reason we signed them is because we know what they can do. And so you have to come with that confidence every night and you have to fight. Things don’t go your way , you can’t find yourself in the corner somewhere and go crying about it. You have to step up and try to see how you can best help your team succeed.
Ham added that he would consider returning to the starting lineup of James, Davis, Reaves, Vanderbilt and Russell that Los Angeles used throughout last season and in the first two rounds of the playoffs, once Russell will be healthy.
“I think anything that makes sense is on the table,” Ham said. “No stone should be left unturned. We are here to explore everything we can to right the ship.”
Davis said LA will try to find its feet Friday at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, the team it beat in the first round of the last playoffs.
“We just have to compete, play hard and come out with a must-win mentality, and hopefully that can propel us to get back to .500 on Friday and then kind of put together a home streak,” he said. he declares. said. “I mean, we’ve been a really good home team so far, and we’ve had the opportunity to continue to build on that.
“But if we play like we played tonight, then it’s going to go really bad for us.”
