The Los Angeles Lakers had a pretty bad start to their preseason as they suffered a 30-point loss at the hands of the Sacramento Kings. While the Lakers starting lineup looked solid to start the game, the larger rotation couldn’t compete with the Kings, a worrying sign for the depth of the Lakers.
The most surprising performance came from LeBron James, who had a shocking 0-7 night. James addressed his poor shooting performance after the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmUJVd38Cd4
“I just missed some shots. I missed 3 layups, a wide-open layup, and a couple of 3s. I’ve been 0 from the field before, but I’ve just played more. I have had a game before where I started 0 for 9, but I played 35-40 minutes to get my rhythm. Here, 15 minutes and it was over with. That’s the last thing on my mind, makes or misses. It’s about working on our habits offensively and defensively, putting in the stuff we’ve been doing over the week, and we all got a couple of good looks tonight.”
Not many conclusions can be drawn from a preseason game, but this was a bad start for LeBron’s 20th season in the NBA. Hopefully, he can rebound in the next game and be in form for the Lakers’ actual season opener.
Realistic Expectations For The Lakers?
Any team that LeBron James is on is expected to compete for titles. That has been the expectation on the LeBron-led Lakers for the last few seasons, but this season, it is different. LeBron showed last season that he can still average 30 points in the NBA at age 37, but he can’t will his teams to the playoffs single-handedly as he had done in the past.
If the Lakers can make the playoffs without having to participate in the play-in tournament, everyone should look at the season as a success. Realistically, even that may be a challenge given the deficiencies in the Lakers’ depth that were exposed in this preseason loss.
