The Los Angeles Lakers have effectively collapsed after a 10-4 start to the 2024-25 season. They have won just three of their last 11 games, losing four of those games by 25 points or more and scoring under 95 points three times. They’ve gone from a team in the fight for a top seed in the Western Conference all the way to a tie for 10th with the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers have gotten some good performances from role players like Max Christie while missing some others due to injury. But by and large, the last 11 games have been a disaster for L.A. It culminated with a 97-87 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday in which the Lakers turned the ball over 22 times despite having four days off to prepare and get healthy.
When speaking about the team’s recent offensive struggles, Christie expressed confidence that they will be fixed, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Nobody has given up on this team, first of all. Us as a unit, we just said it this morning, everyone has belief in us still from a coaching staff and I know we’ve had belief in each other. So that’s there for sure. But I think offensively for us, and we acknowledged it after the game, we just gotta be better. Our defense is giving us chances to win games every single game we’re in. Tonight, turnovers were an issue. Other nights, it can be other things offensively. But it’s just a little bump in the road that we gotta fix. We got enough firepower with the guys in this room that we know we can score 110 points a game like you said. So it’s just a blip for us and we’re not concerned, it’s a long season. We’re about a quarter of the way through so we got three-fourths still of the season to go. So we got a lot of time to fix it and we’re gonna be proactive with it, for sure.”
It seems as though every night is a new issue for the Lakers. Turnovers — a place where the Lakers are actually among the best in the league — were their downfall on Friday night. But as Christie says, other nights it’s other offensive things and sometimes it’s their defense, even though that has been steadily improving.
But one thing is certain: right now, the Lakers are not playing a brand of basketball that lends itself to consistent wins. And with an above .500 record barely even qualifying them for the Play-In Tournament, it’s clear they have to turn things around quickly.
Lakers unsure when LeBron James will rejoin team
LeBron James needed a break to reset both mentality and physically. So, he was given the night off on Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Then personal matters arose, which has put his return in peril.
When asked about a potential return for the four-time champion ahead of Friday night’s game against the Timberwolves in which James missed, head coach JJ Redick shared that he did not know when the star is going to rejoin the team.
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