LOS ANGELES — One step forward, another step back.
That’s been the Lakers’ reality for most of the 2023-24 season. Because whenever it seems like they’ve made significant progress and are on the cusp of consistently winning in ways they haven’t outside of In-Season Tournament games, they have a performance – or a string of them – that shows they still have a lot of work to do.
Their 130-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena was just the latest example.
“I wouldn’t say concerning,” Anthony Davis said. “There’s frustration, for sure. Concern is when you know that you’re not a good team and you can’t do it. Frustration comes from the point where we know what we can do. We’ve shown it and we’re not doing it. So it’s more frustrating than concerning for me.”
The off-ball movement in their sets that was a difference-maker in Wednesday’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks? Not nearly as present against the Nets, which made life harder offensively when their shotmaking cooled off.
Their defense? Not nearly as intense after the first quarter, which they won 37-28.
The Lakers (21-22) got solid-to-good performances from most of their key players, save for a poor shooting night for Austin Reaves (4 for 12 overall, 0 for 6 from 3-point range).
Davis finished with 26 points (9-of-13 shooting), 12 rebounds and seven assists in 35 minutes.
D’Angelo Russell continued to roll offensively, scoring 20 points to go with seven assists for his third 20-point game in the last four games.
LeBron James finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists despite shooting 9 for 22 from the field. Jarred Vanderbilt scored a season-high 12 points and didn’t miss a shot (5 for 5).
But once the Nets (17-24) – led by Cam Thomas’ 33 points off the bench – found their rhythm, the Lakers didn’t do enough defensively to make them uncomfortable.
“He put the pressure on us all the way into halftime,” James said. “It was kind of close in the third quarter, we gave up 38 points and we got opened up.”
Brooklyn trailed by six early in the third quarter before it went on a 23-8 run over a six-minute span to grab an 87-78 advantage. The Nets took the lead with a 12-4 run, including a 3-pointer by Mikal Bridges to give them their first lead at 76-74 with 8:09 remaining in the quarter.
“It’s hard, because then everybody is in a rhythm,” James said. “I thought we were a step slow at times getting to their shooters. They shot the ball well and then they got into the paint as well. They just broke us down all game, especially in that second half.”
And the solutions didn’t come from the offensive side of the floor either, with the Lakers only mustering 44 second-half points after taking a 68-62 lead going into halftime. The Lakers had 10 of their 14 turnovers after halftime and shot 14 for 41 from the field, including 4 for 14 from 3-point range.
“I thought us not getting stops affected our energy,” James said.
The Lakers fell to 7-13 since winning the In-Season Tournament, the third-worst mark in the Western Conference over that stretch.
“Talk about the tale of two different halves,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “That first half is what we’re working toward. Coming out of those last two games, those last two wins, and then the inconsistency showed up, reared its head in the second half.
“But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves and make excuses. We saw the same people that put together that first half were the same ones that allowed that second half. And we just have to decide which team we’re gonna be. We’ve seen how dominant we can be when we’ve done it right and we’re healthy. And we’ve seen when we haven’t done it so right and we’re dealing with different body issues, health issues. But at the end of the day, you suit up, you have to come out there and compete. And compete as a unit. And that second half wasn’t reflective of that.”
After back-to-back games when their opponents shot poorly from behind the arc – some due to luck and some due to improved perimeter defense – the Nets knocked down 40.4% (19 of 47) of their 3-point attempts.
Thomas, Spencer Dinwiddie (19 points) and Bridges (17 points) each made four 3-pointers as Brooklyn snapped a four-game losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 18 games.
Nic Claxton had a 22-point, 14-rebound double-double. Former Laker Lonnie Walker IV had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting against his former team.
Ham took his core players out with his team trailing 125-107 with just less than three minutes remaining.
“Obviously it’s something we need to figure out and continue to work towards,” Russell said of the team’s up-and-down performances. “But I don’t think we hit the panic button yet. As a group, we’re still dealing with injuries and things like that. We’re slowly figuring things out. We just played at a high level the last two games, this game was a little setback. I think this will motivate us – should motivate us – for the next one.”
UP NEXT
The Lakers next host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at 7 p.m.
LeBron James: “I though we were a step slow at times getting to their shooters. They shot the ball well… they just broke us down all game especially in that second half.” pic.twitter.com/3vsWblnTXU
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 20, 2024
Anthony Davis on the challenge of defending Cam Thomas tonight and the Lakers inconsistencies. pic.twitter.com/w9Dt5bsnUs
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 20, 2024
Darvin Ham: “It’s over for the excuses, man. We got to play basketball.” pic.twitter.com/CTf2J2Jh7d
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 20, 2024
D’Angelo Russell on the difference in the second half for the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/08kdfme0FO
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 20, 2024
“I feel like we just got a little stagnant and couldn’t get a stop.” Austin Reaves on the Lakers second half against Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/0JjH8MpCNc
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 20, 2024
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