The Los Angeles Lakers have dropped their last three games and haven’t appeared very strong in any of their encounters. They lost a home game against the New York Knicks, lost to the Chicago Bulls in a blowout, and ended their season with a defeat to the lowly San Antonio Spurs while on an eighteen-game losing streak.
LeBron James, who has historically relied on his health when facing challenges, was forced to look elsewhere in the Lakers’ defeat by the Bulls when they had their entire roster available.
to go elsewhere given that the Lakers played with their entire roster in the Bulls’ defeat.
In his eagerly anticipated comeback to the starting lineup, Gabe Vincent saw 14 minutes of action against the Bulls. He was a minus-12 in those 14 minutes, and he was just one of the Lakers’ bench players who found it difficult to hold things together against a Bulls team that is currently considering trade offers for almost every member of their roster.
James was frank about the Lakers’ difficulties and acknowledged that there isn’t a simple solution for L.A.
Just working things out. You can figure it out, in my opinion, both on and off the floor. It’s not like our schedule gets any easier in terms of travel, opponents, or other related matters. Of course, we play Minnesota, who I believe is still the best team in the Western Conference; OKC, another top team in the West; and Boston, which is probably home to one or two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Therefore, we shouldn’t expect the schedule to get any easier. But we simply need to improve.
James thinks that this little mid-season slump is the result of a combination of various forms of exhaustion and frustration:
It’s a blend of all of them. It’s the weariness from the grind of the season, which is both physical and emotional. Obviously, fatigue and frustration are the results of not winning, so a little bit of everything.”
James chose to focus on how long it takes to get a rotation working with new players instead of giving a potentially awkward response when asked if the Lakers needed to make any lineup changes.
“I’m not calling that.” Naturally, I am aware of how challenging it can be when players come and go, the roster isn’t complete for the entire season, or whatever. Vando is working through his issues, Rui’s playing time has fluctuated, and Gabe is obviously just returning tonight and is limited in the number of minutes he can play.
Therefore, all we’re doing is figuring out what lineups and other such things work best for us. Evidently, we used a lineup tonight that we haven’t used all season, and Chicago was able to mount a comeback with that lineup.
The Lakers’ situation doesn’t get any easier from here, as James mentioned. Even with a fully healthy roster, games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, and Minnesota Timberwolves will put it to the test. The Lakers have this opportunity to prove who they are in the face of difficulty.
