The Lakers entered tonight hoping to beat the 76ers in a marquee matchup pitting two top teams against one another. Only one of them looked like a top team, as the 76ers blew the doors off the Lakers in a 44-point win.
LeBron James was visibly upset after the loss, as seen by his two-word response to Dan Woike when he asked James about what needed to change for the Lakers after the loss.
“I asked LeBron James what needs to change after a night like tonight – ‘A lot,’ he said. Declined to elaborate.”
I asked LeBron James what needs to change after a night like tonight – “A lot,” he said. Declined to elaborate.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) November 28, 2023
James’ anger with his team continued to fester through other media questions, as evidenced by his answer to a journalist who asked about how the team should respond to a loss of this magnitude.
“I don’t know about the team, I can only speak for myself. I don’t like it.”
Interesting choice of words pic.twitter.com/xM4b5unFor
— kingtisemedia (@kingtisemedia) November 28, 2023
James had 18 points on the night and was the Lakers’ leading scorer on 8-12 shooting. LeBron could’ve tried and carried the team to a win if the game was close at any point, but the Lakers had another traditional slow start and trailed by 13 points at the end of the first quarter.
They never recovered, as James was the only consistent difference-making player in the game. His effort dropped tremendously after the game was out of reach, a likely form of self-preservation for the 39-year-old with a big load this season. Anthony Davis only had 17 points, clearly struggling against the Joel Embiid matchup and being unable to impact the game as a result.
What’s Going Wrong In LA?
The Lakers were pegged as one of the top four teams in the West coming into the season, with me personally believing they could be a genuine title contender after what was a strong offseason on paper. They added 3-and-D wings such as Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish, added guard depth through Gabe Vincent and Jalen-Hood Schifino, and gave Anthony Davis a robust rotation behind him with Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood. They also re-signed D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Rui Hachimura.
Unfortunately, the on-court fit hasn’t been seamless. Even though D’Lo has had a strong start, Reaves had rough outings through the first few games before finding a rhythm off the bench. AD has been inconsistent and LeBron has been overly reliant to close out games and play a bigger role than the team initially anticipated. But they simply don’t defend at the top-five level they were expected to and have major offensive struggles.
Their lean three-point shooting team is simply not making threes, ranking 30th in the league in three-point efficiency with 33.8% made shots on 29.1 attempts per game. The gravity of shooters has helped James, who’s averaging 25.1 points on 56.3% from the field this season. But the lack of conversion is extremely worrying, and not enough to make the Lakers a bonafide top-six team in the West.
Injuries have been a big limiting factor for the Lakers, and most of their problems come back to this. Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt are currently out, with Davis playing through injuries. They haven’t been fully healthy so far this season, a familiar story with the Lakers.
‘A lot’ of changes, as LeBron said, might not refer to roster changes. But it should lead to a shift in how the team plays on the court, with tonight’s loss showing how defensively lax they can be despite the supposed defensive talent of the roster.
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