The In-Season Tournament championship is looking more and more like the only accomplishment the Lakers will have for this season.
Los Angeles has been in a 3-9 tailspin since they topped the Pacers in Las Vegas on Dec. 9 and Wednesday night’s 110-96 home loss to the Heat may have been a low point.
LeBron James finished 6-of-18 with 12 points and the Lakers were outscored by 20 points in his 38 minutes on the court.
James left the arena before speaking to reporters. Those who did remain to speak to the media were blunt in their assessment of the current state of the team that fell to 17-18 for the season with the defeat.
“If we play how we played tonight, then it’s going to go south for us really bad,” said Anthony Davis, who was the lone bright spot for the Lakers with 29 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
Austin Reaves told the Los Angeles Times that the vibe in the locker room was “s–tty. We’re losing.”
Reaves returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday after he had been pushed to the bench by Jarred Vanderbilt.
It did not seem to make a difference.
“If you just look at the stat sheet, we got to shoot the ball better from three,” Reaves told the LA Times. “Shooting 13 percent tonight, you not going to win those games when you do that. … Basketball today, you got to shoot the three well. Obviously turnovers have been an issue. But once we start I think making threes at a good percentage then everything will open up, especially for LeBron and AD. So, we have to do our part in helping them out because they draw so much attention.”
The Heat led most of the game, but Christian Wood’s driving layup and free throw to complete a 3-point play got Los Angeles to 74-72 with 10:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Miami responded with a 10-2 run that included 3-pointers by Duncan Robinson and Jaime Jaquez.
Robinson’s perimeter shot from the corner near the Lakers’ bench extended the lead to 77-72 and was the catalyst that got the Heat going the rest of the way.
“I don’t think it’s a whole thing of who’s starting and who’s not. Everybody is capable of doing what we have to do to win basketball games on both ends of the floor,” Davis told the LA Times. “So the whole lineup thing is an excuse. We have high-level IQ guys who know what they should be doing individually and what we should be doing as a team on both ends of the floor.”
— With AP