The Los Angeles Lakers’ In-Season Tournament championship and the good vibes that came with it, a 14-9 record and a promising outlook for the remainder of the season, seem like ages ago.
In fact, it hasn’t even been a month.
The Lakers are 17-18, going 3-9 since beating Indiana in the IST final. And frustration has set in.
After the Lakers’ 110-96 loss at home to the Miami Heat (without Jimmy Butler), Anthony Davis bemoaned the lack of execution, LeBron James didn’t speak with reporters (a rarity for him) and The Athletic reported there is internal frustration with Lakers coach Darvin Ham and a “disconnect between Ham and that Lakers locker room right now” regarding rotations and starting lineup changes.
The Lakers have dropped from a virtual four-way tie for third place in the Western Conference to a virtual tie for 10th place.
Just competing for a play-in game spot was, and is not, the goal, not after reaching the conference finals last season followed by an offseason of well-regarded moves.
It’s not working right now. Ham has pointed to injuries, but the Lakers still have James, Davis and Austin Reaves, and every team deals with injuries.
So, what’s the problem?
In the past 12 games, the Lakers rank No. 24 in offense, scoring 112.8 points per 100 possessions – a considerable gap from Boston’s league-best 126.9 – and they are No. 18 in defense, allowing 118.2 points per 100 possessions. A negative net rating doesn’t yield many victories.
Even with James and Davis – two elite offensive players – the Lakers have never been great offensively. They were 11th in 2019-20 – the season they won the title – and were 19th last season. In today’s NBA – with games well into the 100s (six teams scored at least 130 Wednesday without overtime) – a team needs to put up points.
The Lakers don’t do enough of that – they rank 24th in 3-point shooting percentage (.351) and 28th in 3s made per game (10.7), and against a good 3-point shooting team – like the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics or Sacramento Kings – it’s almost a 15-point difference in three-pointers in a game.
Also in previous seasons, Los Angeles relied on defense – 12th overall last season and No. 2 post-All-Star break in its final 23 games. The Lakers were No. 3 in 2019-2020. They don’t have that same defense this season.
James turned 39 on Dec. 30, and he is still posting All-Star stats. The Lakers have a solid defense with him on the court but are still below the league average offensively. Same with James and Davis on the court together. And the Lakers really struggle offensively when James and Davis are on the bench.
Ham has adjusted his starting lineups and rotations, but it’s not producing victories. The Lakers have had nine different starting lineups, and Ham has switched the starters in seven of the past eight games.
Injuries have played a part. Gabe Vincent, one of the Lakers’ key offseason acquisitions, has played in just five games and is out for at least seven weeks after undergoing knee surgery. D’Angelo Russell missed Wednesday’s game with a bruised tailbone, and Cam Reddish has been in and out of the rotation with groin and knee issues.
Last season, the Lakers made a strong push after the All-Star break just to secure a spot in the play-in game format and then reached the conference finals. But the West is better this season – including the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans, all of whom finished behind the Lakers last season but are ahead of them this season.
Yes, the Lakers could consider a coaching change, but Ham is not even 1½ seasons into the job, and there is not an assistant on the bench with NBA head coaching experience.
Ham needs to find answers with the offense, defense and rotations, and Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and his staff need to evaluate the trade market for potential help ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
Even with 47 games remaining, urgency is required.