Scoring difficulties reaching new levels: Takeaways from Lakers’ loss to Clippers
Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ 104-86 loss to the Clippers on Sunday afternoon:
1. Gotta score
It’s almost impossible to win a basketball game when you’re as bad as the Lakers were on offense Sunday.
“I think where we’re at, we just have to play the right way on the offensive end. Defensively, we’ll be all right. We’ll compete, challenge most opponents,” Kyle Kuzma said. “But offensively, we’ve got to find ways to play together and put points on the board. You can’t win games scoring in the 80s and 90s. We’ve got to figure out ways to incorporate everyone and everyone get the ball, touch it, have opportunities to score.”
In their win at Sacramento on Friday, the Lakers were able to play that way, hitting shots while playing with flow and feel. But the difference between the Clippers and the Kings are, well, one of those teams can defend and the other is the Kings.
The Clippers held the short-handed Lakers to a season low in points during a 104-86 victory on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.
On Sunday, Marc Gasol led the Lakers’ starters in scoring. They’re probably not going to win if that happens. He had 11 points. They’re definitely not going to win if that’s the most points for a starter.
“Our thing is offensively, playing the right way, trusting the pass, giving yourself to the team,” Kuzma said. “And if we can do that, I think we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
Without Anthony Davis and LeBron James, how good will that chance be?
2. For real, gotta score
Starting with the March 20 loss to Atlanta, the one in which LeBron James sprained his right ankle, the Lakers have been held to 100 or fewer points six times in nine games.
Where are the answers here? How are they going to find wins on this upcoming road trip filled with playoff-caliber teams, the Toronto Raptors of Tampa Bay being one of the only exceptions?
Highlights from the Clippers’ 104-86 win over the Lakers on Sunday.
The Lakers say they’re not looking at the standings, but sixth place seems like a given at some point soon, with the team fighting to stay above seventh — a seed that would require them to participate in the NBA’s play-in tournament.
Scoring 100 or less two-thirds of the time will not be good enough.
3. When does the waiting end?
Before the Lakers lost to the Clippers, the reporters who cover the team tried to get coach Frank Vogel to divulge some information in regard to his recovering superstars. Those reporters lost too.
James and Davis will be on the road with the Lakers. They won’t, it seems like, be in uniform.
“They’ll both be on the road with us, and AD continues to ramp up but is still a way’s away and LeBron is still out indefinitely,” Vogel said.
Vogel said Davis hasn’t suffered a setback in his recovery from a strained right calf, but it’s uncertain when he will be back.
“It’s just being cautious, making sure the build-up is happening at the right pace and this thing is fully behind him,” Vogel said.
4. The good(ish) stuff
The Lakers were encouraged by their defensive effort against the Clippers (though those numbers were undoubtedly aided by the game lacking competitiveness). Montrezl Harrell got a “Welcome Back” tribute video in a building that he kept playing in. Talen Horton-Tucker was aggressive (a need), Gasol’s shooting was a plus, and yeah, that’s about it.
5. Now what?
It’s more of the same. The Lakers hope they will get Andre Drummond back soon (he’s still hurting because of a bruised toe and missing toenail when he tries to put on a shoe). Wesley Matthews’ defense and toughness are missing while he recovers from neck injuries in consecutive games.
The Lakers will have to play great defense to win games in Tampa and Miami as well as in New York, Brooklyn and Charlotte. They will need to have good shooting nights to have a chance. And each loss will make their path to repeating a little bit tougher.
It will stay that way until either Davis or James — or preferably both — returns to action.
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