Somehow, the Los Angeles Lakers keep finding ways to get worse. For the third game in a row, the Lakers put on a lackluster performance early on and basically became a disaster on the court in a 104-124 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
They’ve lost 11 straight road games, and three in a row overall as they continue to search for rock bottom.
Wednesday night they came close. As a team, they had more turnovers than 3-pointers made. The attempts were sloppy and only got worse throughout the night. On certain plays, the Timberwolves stopped guarding shots from outside the arc altogether.
Then the trash talk started. Patrick Beverley, who is known for provoking players while they’re at their worst, covered his nose and called the Lakers, and more pointedly, Russell Westbrook, “trash.” Shortly after, with the Lakers down by 18 points, he walked toward LeBron James while laughing and screaming then playfully hit his side. James had no answer.
Much like his veteran teammates, Wayne Ellington is used to this.
“I’ve been in this league long enough to realize that this is a front-running league,” Ellington said. “When you’re up, everything is going great. When you’re down, they’ll kick you.”
That’s exactly what the Timberwolves did. On the defensive end, the Lakers simply couldn’t compete against a team that’s younger, quicker and more athletic. Anthony Edwards silenced every hope of a Lakers run, as he effortlessly drilled in 3-pointers that the Lakers were struggling to sink.
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns tore his way to the basket in the second half to squander any hopes of a comeback. He got in on the fun as well, when Westbrook air-balled a shot from outside, and Towns caught the ball with no effort, passed it off to a teammate, then stayed in place with a confused look on his face as the rest of his team ran across the court.
“So right now we’ve been getting kicked,” Ellington said “Teams have been enjoying it. It all comes back around full circle.”
It’s hard to blame teams for poking fun at the Lakers. It seems like just months ago, the basketball world revolved around Los Angeles, with the Lakers and Clippers both formidable forces. Now, the team only has a shot at a postseason run due to the Play-In Tournament, which James himself was criticizing last year.
Timberwolves rub salt in Lakers’ wounds, but head coach Frank Vogel insist on staying positive
After the Timberwolves embarrassed the Lakers on the floor, both through taunting and scoring, Vogel chose to focus on a slightly better first quarter. Despite going 0-for-10 for 3-pointers, Vogel said the Lakers continue to get good looks.
“We’re going to continue to work on shot quality and figure out a way to put the ball in the basket,” Vogel said.
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