A 29-point loss at Minnesota on Monday. A 41-point loss at Miami on Wednesday. Combined, it’s the worst two-game stretch in Los Angeles Lakers history.
The Lakers lost to the Heat 134-93 on Wednesday, that loss coming two days after a 109-80 loss to the Timberwolves. The 70-point margin is an all-time low in two games for the Lakers; they were defeated by 67 over two separate two-game stretches of the 2016–17 season.
“It sure sucks to get your ass kicked like that twice in a row,” said Lakers star LeBron James. “Certainly.”
The Lakers went on a six-game winning streak last month to go 10-4. They are 2-6 since then, with four of those losses coming by 25 or more points. Wednesday was the low point; The 41-point loss was not only the worst of the season, but it was only the 11th time in Lakers history – over 6,800 games, including playoffs – that they lost by more than 40.
“I’m embarrassed,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We are all ashamed.”
Redick is now 12-10 in his first year as coach, and this stretch has clearly been his toughest yet. He vacillated in his postgame comments Wednesday between pointing the finger at himself: “I’m taking all the ownership of the world. This is my team and I lead it,” he said – saying the team is having trouble with the simplest parts of the game plan.
“I don’t feel like we’re together right now,” Redick said. “And that’s what we say in the huddle. It doesn’t feel that way. It doesn’t feel that way. We are in a difficult period and we are all trying to figure it out.”
Miami outscored the Lakers 72-15 from three-point range – that 57-point differential is tied for the fourth largest in NBA history.
“We’re having issues on both sides right now with game plan stuff at the grassroots level,” Redick said. ‘It’s strange. It’s very strange.”
Anthony Davis had a career-low 12 points for the Lakers on Monday. He was four points worse on 3-for-14 shooting on Wednesday.
“Boys are doing their part. I don’t do mine, which is just hard for our team,” Davis said. “I just have to play better individually on both sides. “I hold myself to a higher standard and I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, especially offensively for our team.”
James said he agreed with everything Redick said, and Davis even repeated a word his coach used several times.
“Embarrassing,” Davis said.
James hopes the rest of the Lakers locker room takes on that level of responsibility. He emphasized that 22 years in the league have taught him not to overreact to results.
“I’ve been in this game way too long,” he said. “Never get too high, never too low. Because I know how quickly this shit changes.
The Lakers play in Atlanta on Friday, go home against Portland on Sunday and then get a few days off. The NBA Cup quarterfinals on December 10 and 11 will provide a built-in break for the teams that did not advance to the finals. knockout stage of that tournament – to practice and find solutions.
‘If you are individual [messing] and you try to rely on everyone to cover you, I think it starts with the individual first,” James said. “We must all take responsibility.”