After giving up some big leads throughout the game, the Lakers were just a few points away from securing a win against the shorthanded Clippers on Thursday night.
Instead, the Purple and Gold got sent home with an L after Reggie Jackson hit a game-winning layup (111-110) to break Laker’s fans’ hearts.
Despite putting up a good fight in the end, NBA Twitter was not kind to the 17x Champs after the final buzzer. In the moments that followed the game, the Lakers became the story of the night once again.
.@Lakers LOSERS pic.twitter.com/Fvjh3H90UK
— christos (@arichristos) February 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/StressedBronFan/status/1489471293925691395
OMFG!!!!! This team can’t make ONE STOP. Reggie Jackson looked like a prime Steve Nash and got anything he wanted… DEFENSE IS SO FUCKING TRASH
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) February 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/DrGuru_/status/1489471288045445120
That's a heartbreaker… At least the Lakers made a game of it.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) February 4, 2022
Lakers really just choose the worst times to have these breakdowns.
— Richard Staple, BSN, RN🇯🇲 (@RichStapless) February 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/tosi7v/status/1489471611832967169https://twitter.com/RipMambaforever/status/1489472738423156737
The NBA community has been following this team since the beginning. When LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook first got together people were optimistic that they would bring home another title.
Right away, the Lakers showed that they were to be a different team. Dysfunction and chaos have defined their campaign so far, and Westbrook has been at the cent of it all.
Tonight, he played well enough with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists on 38% shooting. Still, he has been blamed for much of their problems and continues to try and steer fans away from that narrative.
“Last year at this point I was 15-32 at one point and we didn’t have a chance to make the playoffs. Your mindset, you just got to always believe that you can do something that people think you can’t and to me, once we create that mentality amongst each other, regardless of who’s in and who’s out, the spirit of our team, the spirit of the way you play the game, will be different.
“And regardless of what the record is, in the midst of having fun and playing, you kind of forget about the record. It doesn’t really matter, it just becomes a conversation that people like to have and expectations that put on us at the start of the year based on our talent, based on our team, expecting us to be at a certain level or at a certain record at this point, and for us, it just makes sure our energy is right and we’re going in the right direction.”
So far, the Lakers have yet to find a solution to their struggles. Ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline, there is hope that Rob Pelinka could work a miracle and make some big trade.
Until then, it’s up to the Big 3 to figure out how to play together and best utilize each other.
It’s a difficult path ahead, and tonight was just another heartbreaker for the recovering squad. But we’ll find out soon enough if better days are ahead.
