“Stay patient, man. Missed so much it can only be up from there. It's like anything else. You go through those slumps. In real life, not in just basketball. You just try to get back to basics with stuff. Me personally, I knew I needed to get in the gym more … just gotta keep shooting.”
Markieff Morris was specifically talking about ending his 0-for-26 drought from three, but his words could apply to the state of his team.
After all: the 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers may have hit rock bottom.
Well, at least they hope it's their nadir — because it's hard to envision a moment much lower than this.
The Lakers were utterly under-manned and over-matched against the Staples Center co-tenant on Thursday, falling 118-94 to the Los Angeles Clippers. With the resounding victory, Steve Ballmer's franchise completed a 3-0 season sweep over Jeanie Buss's group.
L.A. took the Clippers' home floor without their three lead ball-handlers: LeBron James (ankle), Dennis Schröder (health and safety protocols), and Talen Horton-Tucker (calf strain). From the get-go, the offense was dearly missing shot-creation and play-making.
Despite having plenty of energy following two days off, a “point guard by committee” approach from the Lakers simply couldn't generate enough ball movement and good looks to keep up with a healthy and hot-shooting Clippers squad (minus Serge Ibaka).
Alex Caruso (seven assists) was the lone point guard, and the Lakers shot 37.9 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from three (and 62.1 percent from the free-throw line). Speaking of Caruso, this play just about sums up the Lakers' evening:
Paul George drops Alex Caruso and nails a 3-pointer 🔥https://t.co/COFaeVMZzY
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 7, 2021
“We played with like five forwards and centers,” Kyle Kuzma said when asked to assess the loss. “We didn’t have point guards tonight, that was the takeaway.”
To make matters worse, Anthony Davis exited in the first half after an awkward fall against the scorer's table.
“I don't know if we have bad juju issues or what, but definitely every game, it's something,” Kuzma said. “That's just the cards we've been dealt. Can't complain, can't dwell, can't have excuses. This is what we have.”
Davis was playing his eighth game after missing 30 straight with a calf strain. He was coming off his first recognizable performance since returning, as he led L.A. to a win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
Here is where Anthony Davis tweaked his ankle, for those who didn't see. He's currently in the locker room. No word from the Lakers on his status. He stayed in the game after this, but hasn't been seen since his shift ended. pic.twitter.com/x6RL1A0Uu7
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) May 7, 2021
Shortly after halftime, the team ruled AD out with back spasms, rather than a tweaked ankle. Davis had four points on 2-of-9 shooting in nine minutes.
Afterward, he said “the ankle is fine,” but his “back locked up pretty fast.”
The loss was the Lakers' seventh in nine games and dropped L.A. (37-29) into a tie with the Portland Trail Blazers for the no. 7 seed and the play-in tournament. Conveniently for Blazers fans, the two teams will match up on Friday at the Moda Center, in a game that will decide the season series.
The Lakers will be guard-deficient once again vs. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, as James, Schröder, and Horton-Tucker have already been ruled out for the Blazers clash. AD's status is uncertain, though he said his back “should be good to go” for what he described as “the biggest game” of the season.
Andre Drummond was a non-factor on offense nor on the glass, and his defense was shoddy for the second straight game. The Clippers hit 11 first-half threes and shot .532/.419/.885 for the night.
“We didn't have a great rhythm to start the game. I thought that would work itself out” a curt Frank Vogel said. “Just one of those nights.”
Besides Kentavious Caldwell-Pope baptizing Ivica Zubac and Morris ending his cold streak, Kuzma provided the lone bright spot for the Lakers in this otherwise dark affair. The fourth-year forward was the only L.A. starter to hit double figures, putting up 25 points, five rebounds, and four assists. With Rajon Rondo yelping like it was Taco Tuesday, Kuzma hit 9-of-19 from the field and 3-of-10 from three, though his jumper and floor game looked smoother and more confident than the numbers suggest.
Overall, Kuzma is shooting 21-of-45 from deep over his past seven games, or 46.7% on 6.4 attempts per game. That's a productive uptick.
He may not be the underperforming third-banana scorer that Reggie Miller labeled him as on the TNT broadcast — he's been a hugely winning two-way player due to a newfound devotion to all aspects of the game — but the Lakers greatly benefit when he hunts for buckets.
All things considered, Thursday arguably marked the worst day for a Lakers team in over three years.
L.A. trailed by 23 points at halftime, which as The Athletic's Bill Oram noted, last occurred on Feb. 9, 2019 – in a 42-point defeat to the Indiana Pacers. The 2018-19 Lakers, coached by Luke Walton, lost 18 of their next 28 games and played themselves out of playoff contention. James struggled through a persistent groin issue and blew up the team that summer.
Since then, the Lakers have won a championship, added a superstar, and upgraded the coaching staff. The 2020-21 Lakers are more talented and seasoned than that unproven 2018-19 group — all reasons to be optimistic about a turnaround.
“I know the spirit in the locker room is still high when the guys came in the locker room after the game,” Davis said. “Guys are still optimistic, we're still fighting.”
On the other hand, this group is more banged-up, and the expectations are in a different stratosphere.
“I've never really seen anything like this,” Morris said. “Just not being bale to get all our guys on the court at the same time.”
Davis, at least, is staying positive.
“We know when we're all healthy the type of team that we have,” the All-Star big-man said. “We've seen it early in the year. When we're 100 percent healthy, we are the top team in the league. We keep that in our minds.”
It stings now and #LakersTwitter is salty, even if the team is trying to power through the pain.
“We're hanging in there. No one's feeling sorry for themselves,” Vogel said. “We know we got to be better. Even under adverse circumstances.”
Fortunately, help is on the way.
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