The Los Angeles Lakers had another one of their periodic episodes of anemic energy, effort and intensity on Wednesday when they lost 120-107 to the Sacramento Kings. They were competitive with Sacramento through the first half, but they came out flat in the third quarter and scored just 17 points.
They were swept by Sacramento in the season series. As a result, their best shot at avoiding the play-in tournament and making the playoffs outright may have evaporated.
L.A. has often beaten teams with a better record this season, including some legitimate championship contenders. But all too often, it has come out looking weak against squads it should’ve defeated.
LeBron James and company are now 36-31 and in ninth place in the Western Conference, and they trail the eighth-place Phoenix Suns by 2 1/2 games with 15 games left in their schedule.
It led to Brian Windhorst’s harsh words about the Lakers on ESPN’s “First Take.”
"I can't take this team seriously."
—@WindhorstESPN on the Lakers 🫣 pic.twitter.com/V64aWjKVVd
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 14, 2024
Windhorst cited the fact the Lakers are 29th in defensive rating over their last 15 games. While they’re third in offensive rating during that same span, being very good at one end of the floor and terrible on the other end isn’t exactly a recipe for success.
The way the Lakers are going, as Windhorst pointed out, it’s likely they would face the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, should they make the playoffs. The Nuggets are another team that simply has their number these days.
At this rate, one cannot expect L.A. to win the play-in tournament, a place it is likely going to end up going to once the regular season ends. It will have to defeat two very good teams, such as the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks or the Kings, in the play-in tourney to simply reach the playoffs.