Any positive vibes the Los Angeles Lakers accrued in a solid first half vs. the Brooklyn Nets on Friday — and over the past two games vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks — were rapidly mitigated by a catatonic, confounding second half. The Lakers were outscored 38-22 in the third quarter then 30-22 in the final period on their way to an embarrassing 130-112 loss in front of a jeering Crypto.com Arena crowd.

“Our defensive was terrible, in the third quarter especially,” said Anthony Davis (26 points, 12 rebounds). “You have two great games against two solid opponents — two statement wins, in a sense — and you just want to carry that momentum to tonight.”

The Lakers (21-22) led the Nets (17-24) by five at the break, fueled by the same offensive verve and ball movement they (finally) displayed in their blowout win over the Mavs 48 hours earlier. The Lakers had 20 assists on 26 buckets. AD, LeBron James, and D'Angelo Russell, once again, were on their way to prolific box scores.

Mere minutes into the third quarter, the Lakers resorted to their worst tendencies: “Stagnant” offense, barking at officials, lethargic transition defense, negative body language. Meanwhile, the Nets caught fire, led by Cam Thomas (33 points off the bench). Suddenly, Russell was AWOL, LeBron and Davis were missing bunnies, and the Lakers found themselves down double digits. Ham's rarely-resilient group never stopped the snowball.

“I thought for the most part our effort, our pace, us sharing the ball … it was all clicking,” said the Lakers' head coach. “They started to make a run, and we kind of fell apart. Just felt like we got disappointed. Some calls we thought we should've gotten didn't go our way. They made some shots. We hold the ball, start slowing down, becoming indecisive.

“…Talk about a tale of two different halves. That first half is what we're working towards coming out of those last two wins, and then the inconsistency reared its head in the second half. We just have to decide which team we're gonna be. … It's over for the excuses, man.”

Fittingly, considering the rollercoaster nature of their season, the Lakers followed arguably their most encouraging win with indisputably their most discouraging.

“When you're trying to find a rhythm and you have two great games on both sides of the floor and then you kinda just revert back in the second half of this game and practically play no defense against these guys,” noted Davis.

LeBron's stat line — 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists — masks a flat performance (his third or fourth of the month). LeBron shot 9-for-22 from the field, committed four turnovers, and struggled to beat Spencer Dinwiddie off the dribble. His body language noticeably soured as he became increasingly preoccupied with the officials (he earned a technical for arguing a non-call after a missed layup).

But, LeBron and Austin Reaves rejected Ham's assertion that preoccupation with the refs sapped their effort.

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“Nah. I thought us not getting stops affected our energy, personally,” said LeBron.

 

In the bigger picture, Davis believes the Lakers' overall inconsistency is more worrisome than Friday's dud. (After all, this is still the team that won the In-Season Tournament last month and advanced to the conference finals last spring.)

“I wouldn't say ‘concerning,'” explained AD. “Frustration, for sure. Concern is when you know that you're not a good team and you can't do it. Frustration comes from the point where, we know what we can do. We've shown it and we're not doing it.”

What is concerning, though, are the areas in which the Lakers' players have been consistent: disagreeing with Ham, lamenting defensive miscommunication, and complimenting other coaches.

In truth, out of the blue, Friday's second half served up a quick-hitting, potent cocktail containing all of the aforementioned, lingering issues. And yet, the night was as sobering as can be for the Lakers.