The Lakers had a tough week, suffering a 29-point loss in Minnesota on Monday and a 41-point loss in Miami on Wednesday. Together, these losses mark the worst two-game stretch in Lakers history.
The Lakers were beaten 134-93 by the Heat on Wednesday, just two days after losing 109-80 to the Timberwolves. The combined 70-point margin of defeat is the largest for the Lakers in any two-game span. Their previous worst was a 67-point margin over two games during the 2016-17 season.
“It sucks, for sure, to get your (butt) whooped like that twice in a row,” said Lakers star LeBron James. “For sure.”
The Lakers had been on a six-game winning streak last month, reaching a 10-4 record. Since then, they’ve gone 2-6, with four of those losses by 25 or more points. Wednesday’s loss was especially tough; it wasn’t just their worst loss of the season, but only the 11th time in Lakers history that they’ve lost by more than 40 points in over 6,800 games, including playoffs.
“I’m embarrassed,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick. “We’re all embarrassed.”
In his first year as coach, Redick’s current record is 12-10, and this rough stretch has been his hardest so far. After the game, he took responsibility, saying, “I’ll take all the ownership in the world. This is my team and I lead it.” However, he also mentioned that the team is struggling with the basic aspects of the game plan.
“There’s not a sense from me that we’re ‘together’ right now,” Redick said. “And that’s what we say in the huddle. Doesn’t feel that way. Doesn’t feel that way. We’re in a tough stretch and we’re all trying to find it.”
Against Miami, the Lakers were outscored 72-15 from 3-point range, a 57-point difference that tied the fourth-largest in NBA history.
“We’re having trouble right now on both ends with like base-level gameplan stuff,” Redick said. “It’s odd. It’s very odd.”
Anthony Davis had his worst game of the season on Monday, scoring just 12 points. He did even worse on Wednesday, finishing with only 8 points on 3-for-14 shooting.
“Guys are doing their part. I’m not doing mine, which is just tough for our team,” Davis said. “I just have to play better individually on both ends. I hold myself to a higher standard and I haven’t been doing what I needed to do — especially offensively for our team.”
James agreed with everything Redick said, and Davis used the same word his coach had repeated multiple times.
“Embarrassing,” Davis said.
James hopes the rest of the team takes responsibility too. He said that his 22 years in the league have taught him not to get too high during good times or too low during bad ones. However, these back-to-back losses are something he’s never experienced before.
The Lakers will play at Atlanta on Friday, then host Portland on Sunday, before getting a break with a few days off — the NBA Cup quarterfinals on December 10 and 11 give teams not advancing to the knockout stage time to practice and find solutions.
“When you’re individually (messing) up and you’re trying to rely on everybody else to cover for you, I think it starts with the individual first,” James said. “All of us have to take accountability.”
