After an inspiring win in Cleveland, the Los Angeles Lakers entered tonight’s game with high hopes of securing their second-straight victory.
Unfortunately, without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, they were unable to come out on top over the new-look Sixers.
Despite the defeat, however, Lakers fans were shocking upbeat, praising the effort from the team, and even from Westbrook, who dropped 20 points on the night.
Here are some of the best reactions we saw:
This Lakers team looks solid.
So why are they bad when Lebron plays?
— 'Mide (@midEdAvid) March 24, 2022
I'm actually not mad tonight about the @Lakers effort. They actually looked like a team tonight. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
— All Things Lakers (@CerealKillaar) March 24, 2022
My guys fought tonite, i could never be mad at effort 💯 we win if bron played. Good shit tho lakers #LakeShow
— 💰 (@moneymakingkeez) March 24, 2022
*invisible ink* this lakers team does look different. They won’t win the title but at least they don’t be quitting
— prodigal trop (@AlmightyTrop) March 24, 2022
Now if this Lakers team played like this all year they’d have more wins then losses! I firmly believe that!!
— sto. (@NestoENT) March 24, 2022
Hey I admit thought we were gonna lose by 30 but lakers showed heart DH and monk put in that work and embiild and harden are the twi floppy mfkers don’t ever compare them to Kobe and shaq
— LA FOREVER POR VIDA (@fearthebestteam) March 24, 2022
#Lakers fall to the 76ers, 126-121.
Nice effort without LeBron and AD but they will come up just short.
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) March 24, 2022
Aint even mad with the loss tonight those boys balled and stayed hungry the entire time #LakeShow #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/lLgA2k4z8B
— Isaac Marquez (@HomieHotDog) March 24, 2022
The Lakers move to 31-42 on the season, which puts them just half a game ahead of the 10th seeded Pelicans. At this point, the path to a title is narrow and filled with enormous obstacles.
So far, toxicity has been high for the franchise, and Russell Westbrook has been put on blast for his role in their struggles. According to Gilbert Arenas, it has gotten to his head.
“When you get booed at home it mentally destroys you,” said Arenas. “Home is like my family. Home is my brothers and my sisters. Home is where the person is hyping you even if you’re going to lose. Those friends he kept, don’t, that’s his home crowd. Hyping him out, ‘you can do it, we can do it.’ Imagine if he was getting ready to rap and they start booing him. That deflates him. That’s what happened. That happened to Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard was the second-leading scorer on that team. He couldn’t even play. He should have been playing, he’s averaging 17 and 12. They booing him. I want no part of it. You’re not booing Steve Nash for not playing well. You’re not booing Gasol, who was playing horribly. You booing me? I don’t want no part of this. You can see it in his eyes, like everything he has to second guess. It’s the confidence. Personally didn’t even think Westbrook’s confidence could get shook. He’s LA, he loves the city so when they boo him it’s actually personal for him.”
Still, there is hope for the Purple and Gold.
Russell Westbrook has looked better lately, increasing his support and acceptance by Laker Nation. LeBron James is looking as dominant as ever with two 50 point games in the span of a month. There’s also Anthony Davis, who grows closer to a return to the court with each passing day.
If the team can get healthy and figure things out before mid-April, they might just have a chance to make some noise… or maybe not.
No matter which side of things you stand, there is no denying that the Lakes have shown some signs of life recently. We will see before too long what it leads to.
