The Los Angeles Lakers have a long way to go if they want to raise the franchise's 18th banner. That was made starkly apparent on the night when the Lakers debuted their City Edition uniforms honoring their championship-laden history. Anthony Davis knows it.
“We have to decide who we want to be,” he said after the Lakers' staggering 107-83 loss at Staples Center to the Minnesota Timberwolves, due to a 40-12 third-quarter debacle, which Davis called “embarrassing.”
“A championship team?” Davis questioned. “We're not winning a championship the way we're playing. We have to be better.”
The Wolves' loss was particularly discouraging after a promising and productive week following the Lakers' indifferent showing vs. the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center last Saturday. Without LeBron James (and a handful of other key pieces) the Lakers' accomplished veterans led them to an overtime dub against the youthful Charlotte Hornets on Monday. They followed that up with a gritty win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday — their hottest and most clutch shooting outing of the season.
The Lakers got off to a solid start vs. Minnesota, buoyed by Vogel's decision to start Davis at the 5 and move Wayne Ellington into the starting lineup. They led 49-44 at halftime and seemed like, comfortably, the superior squad.
Then, somehow, they updated their 2021-22 season nadir. Los Angeles, inexcusably (I'm not buying fatigue considering the lack of miles traveled and day off in-between) got creamed in the second half by a Timberwolves team that entered Staples 3-7 through 10 games. The Lakers were outhustled, went ice cold, stopped moving the ball, and, frankly, looked like the Bad News Bears with careless turnovers, many of which ended up in the hands of courtside attendees.
Vogel pointed out that that the Lakers lost four or five consecutive loose balls in the third period. Vogel, Wayne Ellington and Russell Westbrook lamented the team's third-quarter failures — which has been an issue this season.
“Everyone loses games,” Davis noted. “But doing it the right way … not being ourselves. Tonight was energy and effort in the third quarter and the second half just like Portland was from the tip. Energy and effort wasn't there.”
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That said, the Lakers will be patient and tough it out. They won't unravel. That begins with a constructive, “heart-to-heart” film session on Saturday (there is no practice), Davis said.
“What we can't do is point the finger. ‘It was you, it was you, it was you.' We have to say together,” AD added. “.We hate feeling this way. We have to put together a stretch of games where we're playing our style of basketball for 48 minutes and live with the result.”
The Lakers will have an opportunity to wash the sour taste from their mouths bright and early on Sunday afternoon (12:30 p.m. PT) against the San Antonio Spurs, then in a tougher matchup the next day, vs. the Chicago Bulls.
“Well, there's no better motivator than a bad loss,” Vogel said. “I think our guys are angry, our coaching staff is angry, and we'll get back to work and do whatever we need to do to fix it and get our execution better. And all of those things: effort, focus, execution.”
The Lakers validated that sentiment with their initial response to the Portland loss. Let's see if they can do it again.
“We're not a great team until we become one,” Vogel summarized. Point taken.
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