Despite all the noise around them before the start of the campaign, the first two months of the 2021/22 NBA season haven’t been easy for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Purple and Gold have struggled to find their touch this season.
After assembling a Big 3 of LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and adding veterans to complement the trio, the Lakers haven’t found their rhythm, which has set the alarms at Crypto.com Arena. Following a blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, the Californians are in a complex position.
Nobody is happy with the Lakers and tonight they face the No. 1 seed in the East, the Brooklyn Nets, trying to get a commanding win that will inspire them before the end of the year.
Right now, the Lakers are 16-17 despite having the easiest schedule of the league. However, as Redditor “fcuktheccp” recently explained, the 17-time NBA champions will have the hardest remaining strength of schedule.
After Christmas the Lakers will have to face:
– Golden State three times
– Phoenix twice
– Utah three times
– A (dangerous if healthy) Brooklyn team once
– Milwaukee once
– Miami once
That’s 11 out of 47 games against really good teams.
On the other end of the spectrum they play Houston twice (LA only just beat them 119-117 the last time out), OKC once (Thunder lead the season series 2-1), Sacramento twice (season series tied 1-1) and Portland three times (Blazers beat them 105-90 in November).
It’s gonna be a long season for the Lakers.
Everything points out the Lakers will make several moves ahead of the trade deadline. They have mightily struggled in a Western Conference that is weak in comparison to the East this campaign. LeBron James and Anthony Davis haven’t been able to bounce back after a tumultuous 2020/21 season.
Now things will get even harder for them, and everybody needs to step up if they aspire to win something. Perhaps going against more difficult rivals will give the Lakers the motivation they need to play better, but time will tell how this situation plays out. As of right now, they are probably the most disappointing team this season, and it’s about time they change the narrative.
