Subscribe
Follow Us
The Los Angeles Lakers, once again, followed up a potential momentum-building victory with a discouraging dud. Two nights after their most complete performance of the season — a dialed-in and breezy win over the Boston Celtics — they put forth an uninspired performance against a short-handed Memphis Grizzlies bunch, falling 108-95.
They're back to .500 and sixth in the Western Conference. They've beaten two teams in the top 10 in the West. Anthony Davis said the Lakers should now act like underdogs if they want to regain their contender status.
The Lakers season has been plagued by many problems: injuries, a questionable and renovated roster, constant lineup tweaks, Isaiah Stewart.
However, general inconsistency has been the trademark of their up-and-down campaign thus far. Each time Los Angeles seems to entertain the idea of turning a corner, they take multiple steps back.
Their perimeter (and free-throw) shooting has been unsteady, Russell Westbrook (nine points, -16 in Memphis) is as unpredictable as any star in NBA history. Their defense has only sniffed elite status for the occasional quarter.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4eyMtHUETPlGtzzbISEXc8?si=360ba17f130d4e6b
Fittingly, their loss on Thursday was driven by two problems that have resurfaced at inopportune times: subpar effort and sloppiness.
After an energized first quarter in which they executed well but only led by four, the veteran (and supposedly prideful) Lakers fatally loosened the screws against the team playing without Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks, and Brandon Clarke. (Los Angeles, by contrast, is the healthiest it's been all season.)
“I wouldn't say I'm surprised,” a blunt Frank Vogel said when asked about his bunch giving up another winnable game. “I've seen it happen with our group this year. We have to keep our foot on the gas and continue to play…We keep getting disappointed when we think it’s there, we think we’ve had that moment. Our biggest battle, our biggest problem this year is consistency. Once we take one step forward, we fall back and have a disappointing performance.”
The Grizzlies outscored the Lakers by 10 points in the second quarter. The Lakers began coughing up the basketball and losing seemingly every 50/50 ball and rebound.
“There was just too much of a casualness to our approach after we got that early lead,” Vogel added. “Wasn't even a huge lead. We got casual. We started turning the basketball over. We stopped defensive rebounding or gang rebounding.”
The Lakers surrendered 15 offensive rebounds and committed 22 turnovers, leading to 27 Grizzlies points.
“Turnovers are always all shapes and sizes, there's never one thing,” Vogel said. “I do feel like we failed to make the simple play, especially in that second quarter.” He said there were two plays in particular that stood out but didn't specify which. “You just have to play the game with a little ball security in order to win a basketball game. And if you're gonna turn it over 22 times, you're going to have a great chance of losing that game. We're going to continue to have disappointing losses as long as we're turning the ball over like that.”
As LeBron James lamented, the Lakers had seemed to get past their turnover issues, which plagued them for the season's first few weeks.
The Grizzlies had 18 steals!!!
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) December 10, 2021
Anthony Davis expressed his frustration with yet another confounding and inexcusable effort.
“Some games we show consistency, some games we didn’t,” AD said. “Tonight we didn’t, against Boston we did. It’s just got to be a more consistent thing. That’s our biggest problem right now is consistency. We come out certain games and don’t play how we’re supposed to play and games like Boston, we come out and play great. We have to be a more consistent team if we want to truly compete for a championship. It’s a mindset thing.”
LeBron said the “inconsistent lineups” have been “challenging, for sure” which could be interpreted as yet another veiled shot at his head coach.
Performances like this inevitably raise the temperature on Vogel's seat. And while he's not immune to blame, it's not his fault if this prolific batch of players — who all claim to be solely driven by a chance to win a title (well, except for Russ) — can't be relied upon to bring their best.
Forrest Gump's mama famously said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” I'm pretty sure Forrest wasn't referencing the 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers when he shared that simile on that bench in Savannah in 1981 — though he did have a fantastical knack for affecting history — but the analogy is apt.
