The Los Angeles Lakers road trip has added another loss to their record, as they were thoroughly outperformed by the OKC Thunder in a 110-133 loss. Fans of the Lakers were upset seeing their team consistently falter against the best teams in the NBA.
Heading home pic.twitter.com/p20E48A9St
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 1, 2023
Fans think the Lakers’ injuries have put them in a no-win situation.
The Lakers aren’t beating good teams consistently until they get some combination of Vincent, Vando, Cam and Rui back. They can’t guard the perimeter at all with all of those guys out.
— 500 🏎 (@Kameron_Hay) December 1, 2023
More fans used the Lakers injury situation to justify the loss.
https://twitter.com/JamesEdrick3/status/1730389834500358195
Some fans acknowledged the team is rife with injuries but said that Darvin Ham is the reason behind the loss.
I know the Lakers are missing key guys and they haven’t even played games together with their whole team this season but Coach Ham scares me man
— 73-9 and THEY LIED (@CuffsTheLegend) December 1, 2023
Fans even went so far as to say Ham deserves to be fired after leading the team to the Western Conference Finals as a rookie head coach.
Thank You. The Lakers need an identity and guidance offensively. Ham isn't it… FIRE HAM https://t.co/Xav6IALJgF
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) December 1, 2023
Some fans are leaning toward a coaching change before they make a major trade.
To be honest, the Lakers don't need a trade. They need a coach.
— Ryan Rueda (@iDude14) December 1, 2023
Some fans wanted to cut Anthony Davis slack for showing up while the rest of the roster disappeared around him.
This loss ain’t on AD he showed up both nights on the back to back games
Better check the box scores & watch these game .. Anthony Davis showed up
— Raquel 🫶🏾 (@SOULbeautifulme) December 1, 2023
More fans piled in on Darvin Ham, with a clever video edit of all his ‘crimes’.
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) December 1, 2023
The Lakers got a big night from Anthony Davis, who ended the night with 31 points and 14 rebounds. LeBron James ended with 21 points and 12 rebounds, only attempting four two-point shots in his 12 attempts. D’Angelo Russell had 16 points and 10 assists as well. LeBron and AD out-rebounded (26) all other Lakers on the night (25), in a game they looked thoroughly outmatched.
The Thunder got a big game from MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, dropping 33 points and seven assists on the night. Jalen Williams had one of his best performances of the year with 21 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. Chet Holmgren had 18 points while Josh Giddey dropped 14 of his own, with eight rebounds.
The Lakers Need To Address Their Injuries
It’s easy to clamor for a trade every time the Lakers have a bad game, but no trade would fix what happened tonight. With players like Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, and Jarred Vanderbilt out, the Lakers don’t have enough defense to compete against good teams. In addition, the team has struggled with feeding Anthony Davis in late-game situations, with another disappointing fourth quarter from Davis.
The Lakers have struggled against teams the best teams in the NBA in almost every game this season. Both their wins over the Suns came when the team was missing players, while their win over the Clippers came when LAC lost half their rotation in the James Harden trade, without Harden being available. Outside of that, their best win is probably against the Orlando Magic from the start of the season.
They’ve lost most of their games to teams above .500 such as the Nuggets, Kings, Heat, Rockets, Mavericks, 76ers, and now the Thunder. They haven’t been beaten by a worse team so far this season, but all their losses have been to teams that can objectively be called better than them given their starts to the season.
Beating bad teams has allowed the Lakers to be 11-9 through their first 20 games. But to contend and secure a top-six seed in the East, they need to do more. Hopefully, the impending return of defensive stoppers such as Reddish and Vanderbilt helps the Lakers find their groove again, or else a major trade may be inevitable.
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