Subscribe
Follow Us
The Los Angeles Lakers have continued to struggle without superstar LeBron James in their lineup. James has been sidelined with a groin injury and hasn't played for the team since the third quarter of their Christmas Day showdown with the Golden State Warriors.
After two impressive wins against the Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons, the Lakers looked sluggish on both ends of the floor and was blown out by the Utah Jazz 113-95 yesterday.
The Lakers will be facing the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow and head coach Luke Walton wants his team to not take their opponents lightly. Cleveland currently possess the NBA's worst record but they almost beat Los Angeles when they faced them last November.
The Cavs are on a 12-game losing streak and would pose no threat to the Lakers on paper but Walton said the team needs to start strong in order to avoid another upset.
Speaking to Lakers.com‘s Ty Nowell, the Lakers coach said he wants the team to learn from their shocking loss to the New York Knicks a few days ago.
Article Continues Below“We have to learn from our past, learn from the mistakes we made,” Walton said. “Cleveland’s very capable like every team in the NBA…if we have that same mentality we did against the Knicks, then there’s no reason they can’t beat us. I expect us to learn from that, but we’ll reference it.”
When the Lakers hosted the Knicks last Saturday, they came out flat and allowed the visitors to build a 17-point lead early in the first quarter. The Lakers were unable to recover and lost 119-112.
The Knicks were on a nine game losing streak before the win.
The Cavs will have more than enough motivation against the Lakers, especially shooting guard Jordan Clarkson, who played with the purple and gold for two seasons before being traded to Cleveland.
JC is having a career year with the Cavs, averaging close to 17.1 points a game.
