The Los Angeles Lakers have got to get better. The Lakers lost their fourth consecutive game last night to the San Antonio Spurs. This was the Lakers’ last official game at the Staples Center before it becomes the Crypto.com Arena. And it was a terrible performance to bid farewell to a legendary building name.
The Lakers had to put forth a make-shift starting lineup that included LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Wayne Ellington, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Dwight Howard. Many of the Lakers’ players are unavailable due to injury or being in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
The Lakers have struggled with absentees this entire season, with them having players in and out of the rotation on a regular basis. This lack of consistency when it comes to the team dynamics has affected them greatly, as they haven’t been able to put out what they could consider a set starting group.
And LeBron James believes this is the reason behind their chemistry issues. Talking about their new lineup after the game, LeBron James said that the team has no chemistry in any of their different lineups because the team has not gotten a chance to play together on a regular basis.
We have no chemistry with any lineup from the simple fact that we literally haven’t logged enough minutes… What is our starting lineup besides me, Russ & AD? Or AD & Russ? Or me & Russ?
This isn’t the first time LeBron James has hinted at the team’s unavailability as a cause for their poor form. After the Lakers’ loss against the Suns, he said that the Lakers were not at full strength, whereas the Suns had all their players available to them. Clearly, the Lakers are yet to have their entire squad available to them.
While that is a legitimate reason, it still shouldn’t excuse the way the Lakers have been playing. Them losing 4 games in a row with 2 perennial All-Stars on the court should be unacceptable. Dwight Howard thinks that the Lakers will be good by the time playoffs start, but given how they are playing right now, that is very difficult to believe.
