It is difficult to know the seriousness of this, the Lakers being on the wrong side of dominance from another team that seems to know exactly where the weakest spots are in the Lakers’ defensive schemes.
In Wednesday 120-107 loss in SacramentoThere was a mixture of disappointment and calm in the Lakers locker room at Kings Arena.
Players like Anthony Davis lamented the two main reasons for the defeat: Sacramento’s turnovers and offensive rebounding. Others pointed to the breakdowns that allowed Harrison Barnes to make seven of the Kings’ 19 three-pointers.
“There’s nothing we can do for this game now except watch and learn from our mistakes and what we can do to be better, especially in the third quarter,” Austin Reaves said. “Seventeen points, something must have gone wrong with our offense. But I don’t think the atmosphere in the locker room has really changed. It’s not like we hate each other now. You turn the page and you have to understand what we need to do to be successful in the future.
There was no apparent anger Wednesday despite the circumstances. The Lakers had a practice and shootaround to prepare for the Kings due to a schedule interruption that left them with two days off before and after the game in Sacramento.
“It makes us even more comfortable to dedicate everything – our mind, our body and our spirit – tonight,” the Lakers coach said. Darvin Ham said before the match.
But it never quite looked like that, especially from the Lakers’ stars. Davis continued to lose his fights with Domantas Sabonis, a problem exacerbated when Davis missed a ton of shots at close range. LeBron James didn’t show much juice until the fourth quarter, and his play in the third — one of six from the field with three turnovers — stagnated the Lakers’ offense and ignited the Kings.
“One of the things I just told them: I can’t skip details. We had guys who didn’t shoot the ball well, but looked great like they usually do. But just in a team basketball sense, you just have to continue to have a next-play mentality,” Ham said after the loss. “You turn the ball over or it’s a quick shot or… our shot selection is a little bit off, you have to recalibrate and try to play the right way. And again, do it as a unit , and not just trying to get started individually. If you’re trying to get started, then we’re staying organized within the framework of what we’re supposed to do, so great. But we can’t ignore the details.
There has been some regression from the past, with the Lakers stars failing to keep Reaves and Rui Hachimura, who were both hot, primarily involved in their offense, particularly in the third.
Hachimura only made one shot in the second half – a three-pointer. And Reaves, who scored 19 points in the first half, had just two shots in the third quarter.
When asked if the Lakers could have done more to get Hachimura involved, D’Angelo Russell refused to answer.
“Yeah, I’d rather not go with that.” It’s a good match for Rui,” he said.
The Lakers have largely resolved some of the issues that were raised. cost them against kings in previous meetings – the defense adjusted coverages to prevent De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk from comfortably attacking the same looks, over and over again.
But that was not enough, reminding us that some of these flaws could end up being fatal.
There’s the issue of defense at the Lakers’ point of attack, where, despite Reaves’ solid play over the past month-plus, the Lakers have struggled with Jarred Vanderbilt sidelined. Gabe Vincent’s recent clearance to work on the non-contact field could potentially provide a boost to the team, although he will have little time left to get into rhythm and establish a consistent spot in Ham’s rotation.
Players have hinted optimistically that Vanderbilt and Vincent could return soon, but with only 15 games left in the regular season, there should be real concerns about their impact.
There was familiarity in Wednesday’s result, another team brushing aside the Lakers, another team hitting a barrage of open threes and feasting on the glass, another team forcing the Lakers to play consistently at a level that they were not able to reach.
“Kryptonite,” declared a player leaving the locker room.
And the Lakers have to ask themselves if these are just the Kings or symptoms of larger, irreparable problems.
