The Los Angeles Lakers have lost three games in a row and are below .500, 21-22.
The latest loss came at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, who defeated Los Angeles in a massive blowout Saturday. Denver shot nearly 60% from deep on 40 attempts in a 133-96 win, and L.A. didn’t have an answer all night.
Players often got caught ball-watching on defense with minimal effort given to contesting and rotating while the offensive performance lacked poise and consistent playmaking.
For a team with title aspirations, it’s been a disappointing way to lose games, even though Anthony Davis hasn’t played since Dec. 19.
The loss to Denver led to Lakers legend Magic Johnson blasting the team’s hustle on Twitter and saying controlling owner Jeanie Buss deserves better:
After being blown out by the Nuggets 133-96, we as @Lakers fans can accept being outplayed but we deserve more than a lack of effort and no sense of urgency. Owner @JeanieBuss, you deserve better.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 16, 2022
The lack of effort and urgency has been a prevalent theme for the Lakers all season, and it’s still ongoing past the halfway point of the 82-game campaign. If the Lakers can’t right the ship soon, the whole year will be described like this.
[mm-video type=video id=01fr42bnf91jddhs67cx playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fr42bnf91jddhs67cx/01fr42bnf91jddhs67cx-2f0fa1fd9e95e30af6fd533d1766b309.jpg]
[listicle id=56646]