Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel ripped his team's effort following a wire-to-wire blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks that was not nearly as competitive as the lopsided 128-110 final score even indicates. The Lakers, playing without their stars, LeBron James (ankle sprain) and Anthony Davis (foot sprain), were thoroughly dominated by Luka Doncic, who finished with a casual 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists.
A notably peeved Vogel began his postgame remarks by specifically calling out the Lakers' failed execution of the gameplan(s) and their inability to defend the Mavs' pick-and-roll sets. He quickly broadened his criticism of his team, who gave up 82 points in the first half — their most in a half since moving to Los Angeles in 1960.
“We just didn't execute well enough and play with enough toughness, IQ, intelligence, focus, and fight in that half,” Vogel said. “Not acceptable. Just a poor performance across the board. Coaches, players, everybody.” (Other than that, they were firing on all cylinders).
The Lakers fell behind by 25 points early and were never remotely in the game.
Russell Westbrook: "Right now we have to focus on competing. That's it. You figure the rest out later."
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) March 30, 2022
The loss dropped the Lakers to 31-44, the same record as the San Antonio Spurs. Because the Spurs own the tiebreaker due to division/conference record, the Lakers are now officially the No. 11 seed — outside of the Play-In zone.
OK here's the full exchange between Russ and @BA_Turner, who asked what should change now that the Lakers are in the No. 11 seed. Russ asked the question back and began to walk out, before he and Turner quickly hashed it out. Seems all good, in the end.pic.twitter.com/z6BgG1TtVg
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) March 30, 2022
“The standings are the results,” Vogel added. “We have to keep our focus on the process and the work. The things that are going to lead to the next win. That's the only place our focus will be.”
Underwhelming effort has been an unfortunate yet defining theme of the Lakers season.
"We just gotta play harder, man, and give way more effort than we do," said Malik Monk — a sentiment he's expressed after numerous Lakers losses this season.
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) March 30, 2022
Los Angeles will look to bounce back on Thursday, in a road matchup against the Utah Jazz. LeBron is not expected to play. The next day, they'll return home to face the New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis is expected to return on either Friday or Sunday, vs. the Denver Nuggets.
“It's time to win games, man,” Stanely Johnson said. “It's been time to win games.”
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