On Thursday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers held a glorious ceremony to unveil a statue with the likeness of late team legend Kobe Bryant. A number of greats from the team’s past were there, and it was a celebration of the life and career of arguably the greatest Lakers player ever.
It was also somewhat of a reminder that the present-day Lakers simply lack something that those Bryant-led teams of yore had that is required to hang banners.
A few hours later, those present-day Lakers hosted the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets, the team that swept them out of last May’s Western Conference Finals. They were already short-handed without Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent, but they got bad news shortly before the opening tip when starting point guard D’Angelo Russell was ruled out with knee soreness.
Denver got out to an early 10-2 lead, but the Lakers were able to be semi-competitive with their defense and running game. However, their halfcourt game was ineffective, and it seemed there was a lid on the basket, which allowed Denver to lead 59-49 at halftime.
Los Angeles came to within four points at the end of the third quarter, and it competed hard in the fourth quarter. The game was tied with 2:18 left at 104-all, but Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. combined for the contest’s next 10 points to put LeBron James and crew away in a 114-106 decision.
This was L.A.’s seventh consecutive loss to Denver dating back to the 2022-23 regular season. Denver simply has L.A.’s number, and it almost seemed as if it was toying with the Purple and Gold on Thursday.
The Lakers lost this game due to their incessant bugaboos this season — rebounding and 3-point shooting. They got beat on the boards 50-39, and Denver’s 14 offensive rebounds led to 21 second-chance points for it. They went just 8-of-25 from 3-point range, while their opponents shot 43.8% from that distance.
These two weaknesses have single-handedly cost L.A. many games this season. With the trade deadline now in the rear-view mirror, one shouldn’t expect things to improve much in that regard.