The Los Angeles Lakers have been reeling over their past few games; coming off a 29-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, the Lakers were surely raring to redeem themselves on Wednesday with a trip to South Beach to face the Miami Heat. But somehow, the Lakers keep digging themselves deeper and deeper of a hole, as they came into Kaseya Center and got absolutely demolished, with the Heat taking a 134-93 victory.
These past two games have been so demoralizing for the Lakers, as it seems like no matter what they try, they’re doomed to fail. And the legendary Magic Johnson didn’t even wait until the end of the game to express his displeasure over how terrible his beloved Purple and Gold has been performing as of late.
“I’m embarrassed for the Lakers. They were down 32 points to the Miami Heat 105-72 at the end of the third quarter,” Johnson posted on his official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
There is indeed plenty to be embarrassed about if one is a Lakers fan during these trying times. Getting destroyed by a combined 70 points over the past three days has got to elicit some feelings of shame — especially for proud winners such as LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The Lakers have been failing on both ends of the floor. On defense, they were too late in getting out to open shooters or they allowed too much penetration that then creates such opportunities from beyond the arc. And then on offense, nothing seems to be working; the Heat simply packed the paint and dared them to make them pay from beyond the arc — failing miserably in doing so as they made just five of their 22 three-point attempts on the night.
Something has to give for JJ Redick and his men, as this simply cannot continue.
What is going on with the Lakers’ stars?
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Against the Timberwolves, both LeBron James and Anthony Davis made headlines for all the wrong reasons. They combined for just 22 points on 8-30 shooting from the field on Monday night, and it’s difficult to win any ballgame if your two best players put up such stinkers.
The good news was that James showed up on Wednesday, although it was all moot as they suffered their worst defeat of the campaign. James bounced back with a 29-point performance on 12-18 shooting. However, Davis continues to struggle; he put up his worst game of the season thus far, scoring just eight points on an abysmal 3-14 shooting from the field.
These two will have to get back to being at their best for the Lakers to have any chance at playing winning basketball again.
