In what went down as their worst loss of the 2018-19 NBA season, head coach Luke Walton saw the Los Angeles Lakers again get off to a slow start against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Without LeBron James and Rajon Rondo, the Lakers have now lost seven of their last 10 games and often find themselves down by double-digits early in games.
Despite Walton reminding the young core of their recent loss to the New York Knicks, there was a lack of effort against a Cavs team that had previously lost 12 consecutive games.
Following their second consecutive loss, Walton revealed he is considering a starting lineup change as the Lakers prepare to face the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. “Frustrating loss,” Walton began.
“We might have to do something to the starting lineup right now. Every game, it
feels like we’re giving up 30-plus points in the first quarter, so we’ll take a closer look at that. I really thought we’d come out with a little better energy.
“By the end of the games, we’re doing a nice job of stabilizing our defense and getting the stops we need, but we can’t just keep giving up 30 points to start the games. We’ll take a look at that, possibly make a change before Tuesday. It’s up to us to try to find a combination that gets us off to better starts.”
Out of the current starting lineup which features JaVale McGee and the young core, it is difficult to assess what changes should be made since they have all been inconsistent.
While Josh Hart has played with effort, he is shooting just 21.7 percent on 4.6 three-point attempts in his last five games. With Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball needing space to operate, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope may be a better fit with the starters.
Midway through the season, Walton recently thought it would be ‘tougher’ to experiment with different lineups. However, the Lakers do need to get off to better starts with little margin for error.
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