The Los Angeles Lakers dropped to 12-9 on the season after suffering a crushing 109-80 defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves. LA’s offense struggled mightily against a Timberwolves defense led by four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. The Lakers finished the game shooting 40-percent from the field and 19-percent from three. Laker stars LeBron James (4-for-16) and Anthony Davis (4-for-14) highlighted the offensive woes as the team searches for answers on both ends.
They’ve now dropped five of their last seven games. This lousy stretch began with an ominous defeat to the Orlando Magic on Nov. 21. The Lakers had multiple chances to clinch the game at the free throw line, but James, Davis, and guard Austin Reaves all failed to convert. Orlando’s Franz Wagner sunk a three with one second remaining to break LA’s six-game winning streak.
It’s been downhill from there. The Lakers were smoked in the second half in games against the Nuggets and Suns and were held to just 93 points against a short-handed Thunder team.
James’ play has been particularly troubling. He’s scored over 20 points just once in the last six games. He hasn’t made a three-point in four games (0-for-19) after starting the season red-hot from three. While the overall numbers still look solid (22.0 PPG, 9.1 APG, and 8.0 RPG) this isn’t the James we’ve grown accustomed to seeing for the past two decades.
The key point made in the offseason by this team was working to empower Davis and Reaves offensively to lessen James’ workload. That hasn’t entirely worked out. James’ minutes and usage are nearly identical to last season. He’s averaging four fewer points on the same amount of shots as last year while committing turnovers at a higher rate than we’ve ever seen from him as a Laker.
James has looked befuddled as of late. The Thunder were constantly bugging him with strips and deflections. Versus Minnesota, James had just 7 points entering the final frame. He made a layup and a free throw before being taken out of the game to extend his record-breaking double-digit scoring streak to 1,243 games. The game was already well out of reach when James reached the 10-point milestone.
In October, James mentioned his intention to play all 82 games this season. That might not be the best plan moving forward. Taking a few games off may be beneficial for the 39-year-old with nearly 70,000 career minutes played. He’s played in all 21 games thus far this season, but that could be changing soon.
If James continues this recent play, the Lakers may reconsider their options before the trade deadline. Their calling card is having two stars who can stack up with any other team in the West. However, James in his current state is outshined by several names in the conference.
Davis isn’t exempt from any criticism during this stretch, either. He crept into MVP conversations when the Lakers were stringing together wins. He was a no-show against three of LA’s biggest Western Conference foes. Gobert and Minnesota’s interior defense gave Davis fits en route to a 12-point night.
He scored just 15 points (on 5-for-9 shooting) against a Thunder team missing two of its best defenders (Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso were out). Two weeks ago against the three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Davis went 6-for-19, made a season-low two free throws, and scored just 14 points in another embarrassing loss to the Nuggets.
Help is on its way, but how much help? Reaves has missed the last two games after taking a nasty fall against the Thunder. A break might do the 26-year-old well after playing in all 82 games a season ago. Jarred Vanderbilt’s recovery has been pushed back several times, but the defensive-minded wing has targeted a January return date. A trade could be in the works. One name that has popped up is former Laker Brandon Ingram — an impending free agent — who recently switched agencies to Klutch Sports.
If James doesn’t rebound quickly and Davis continues to struggle in big games, none of LA’s potential acquisitions will move the needle for this season.
