The Los Angeles Lakers are once again searching for answers after their latest awful loss, this time a 28-point drubbing at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans. As has been the case for most of the season, LeBron James’ numbers were great as he finished with 32 points, six rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
However, LeBron also played a major part in the Lakers’ turnover issues as he gave the ball away a team-high seven times while contributing just three assists. The Lakers as a team committed 23 turnovers on the night with Russell Westbrook also having seven turnovers as they kicked off their post-All-Star push with back-to-back losses.
With time running out on salvaging this season, James had a simple answer as to how the Lakers can begin that process. “It all starts with a win. That’s what it starts with,” LeBron said after the game. “Try to get off the schneid, get a win and learn from that win. With that, things that you did well and the things that you didn’t do so well.
“It always starts with that and how you can try to implement that into a game-to-game situation. The Clipper game was right there and [we] couldn’t finish the game and tonight against a Pelican team who, like I’ve said, had been playing some good ball as of late. This season is definitely different.”
Against the Clippers, there were some positives, but as James said, the Lakers just couldn’t quite finish the job. But against New Orleans, the team was never able to get things on track on either side of the ball. Even if the Lakers are able to get that win that LeBron believes can potentially kickstart a turnaround, they have not shown the ability this season to build off that positive.
As it stands, the Lakers are still currently in the Play-In Tournament and have some room to breathe, although that is dwindling as well. There are those who still believe the Lakers can be dangerous in the postseason if Anthony Davis can come back healthy, but James is, rightfully, focused solely on what lies in the immediate future.
“Right now, it’s about how we can get better today, or tomorrow, and then coming into Tuesday,” LeBron added. “Dallas has been playing great ball as well, so we got a tough stretch with Dallas, the Clippers game Thursday and then Golden State on Saturday. We got 10 road games in March so it don’t get easier for us.”
Indeed the road ahead for the Lakers is not an easy one and the team is in real danger of falling out of the playoffs altogether. If James and the Lakers can’t get a win soon, this thing could continue to spiral into a deeper abyss that they are unable to get out of.
James has no answers for Lakers’ performance vs. Pelicans
As far as what went wrong that led to the Lakers’ poor performance against New Orleans, James had no real answers.
“I don’t have an answer for tonight,” James said. “If we’re talking about the future, that’s for us all to figure out. You don’t know what can happen in the next few weeks, but tonight from the six-minute point in the second quarter through the third, no answers.”
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