LeBron, Lakers drop 4th straight — ‘We just suck right now’،
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers' hope that returning to their home arena would be just what the team needed to come back to life was dashed Friday night around the Memphis Grizzlies' 20th 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter -time.
After finishing the third quarter tied, Memphis outscored Los Angeles by 14 in the fourth and won 127-113 to hand the Lakers their fourth straight loss.
The Lakers are now 17-19 — 11th in the Western Conference and even out of play-in tournament contention — less than a month after winning the league's season-opening tournament.
For LeBron James, who led all scorers with 32 points but made just 2 of 6 from the foul line and committed three turnovers in the fourth, there was no sugar-coating.
“I mean, we just suck right now,” James said.
Their struggles have been going on for weeks, ranging from 3 to 10 in total since their tournament championship in Las Vegas.
It was a championship that, in retrospect, might have been given too much weight in evaluating Los Angeles' season, given that it was ultimately won with two wins over the New Orleans Pelicans and Pacers of Indiana to seal it.
“It was just two games,” James said. “It's a small sample size. Everyone is so excited about Vegas and keeps talking about Vegas. It was two games. We took care of it. It was the tournament of the season, we got it played, we won it. But that was literally just two games.”
Although James doesn't want to focus on those tournament wins, Lakers coach Darvin Ham — who told reporters before the game that he has the support of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and Vice -president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka – said Too much attention has been paid to recent losses.
“I’m tired of seeing people live and die in every game we play,” Ham said. “It's ridiculous, actually. It's like, come on, man, it's a marathon. And we went through a tough time. It's the same team. … We played some high-level games ago It's not long, and we're just getting back to it.
“We must continue the fight. We cannot lose our fight.”
Memphis took the fight to the Lakers, with four players scoring 20 or more points, led by Jaren Jackson Jr.'s 31. The Grizzlies also shot 23 of 45 (51.1%) on 3-pointers, setting a season high for the season.
Memphis came into the night ranked 11th in 3-pointers made per game with 12.9 and last in team 3-point percentage (33.4%).
“They’re NBA players,” James said of the Grizzlies’ 3-point explosion. “They also work on their craft. It seems to happen a lot against us, where the percentages go the other way. We had our game plan and how we wanted to execute it, and I thought we did it as best we could… And they made us pay.”
After spending most of December on the road, January provided a busy home schedule for the Lakers, with 11 of their first 12 games this month played at Crypto.com Arena.
They are 0-2 so far, with a date with the LA Clippers, winners of 14 of their last 16 games, looming on Sunday.
Anthony Davis preached the importance of the Lakers looking inward as individuals so they can bring their best to the group as the team tries to get back on track.
“We still have a lot of basketball left,” Davis said. “But we're going in the wrong direction right now. And the last thing we need, especially when the guys are away, is to split up and fall apart. So we need to stay together, of course, and find a solution. We can “It’s not in our feelings. We can't complain or anything. We can't take anything personal.
“We have to look at ourselves individually, everyone in the locker room, the coaching staff, look in the mirror and figure out what we can do better individually to help the team be better. And I think that then we can go out and turn things around.”
