The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of their worst stretch of the season, losing four straight contests and five of their last six. One of those losses — a 16-point defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls — was a particular disappointment, as it was the first game of the season in which the Lakers had their entire roster available and healthy.
It’s also been a disappointment considering L.A. has gotten elite play from superstar Anthony Davis amid the losing.
While Davis has played well — averaging 31.2 points and 11.4 rebounds over his last five contests — he is one of many Lakers to have missed some games over the course of the season. It seems as though nearly every major rotation player has missed some time, with Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura serving as players with significant time missed due to injury.
Because of this, the Lakers have dealt with a severe lack of continuity in their rotations, and head coach Darvin Ham has received plenty of criticism despite the role injuries have played. Davis spoke about the injuries and what it has meant for the Lakers in the development of a consistent rotation, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“I don’t know. I mean, one night we’re fully healthy, the next night we’re not. So the roles are continuously changing. When we’re completely healthy we can find those roles and guys lock in to their roles, but when you’re missing guys or guys aren’t playing, those roles increase and it changes game to game. So one night you’re gonna have a guy that you need to defend because you have enough offense, and then the next night we need you to defend and score tonight. So the roles are continuously changing but the thing they can’t change is what we do defensively and our energy and our effort. So I think we got back to that a little bit tonight and I think we’ll be whole on Saturday and like I said, we’re treating it as a must-win.”
The Lakers have played 30 games this season, and yet it still feels to Davis as though they are figuring out their identity as opposed to locking it in:
“You’re not getting in much practice time. We’ve been on the road a lot. Guys are getting back healthy. Gabe’s first game was yesterday, Vando is still battling his foot. So it’s just a lot going on. We’re still a good ballclub, we still believe in what we can do. But it’s hard to assess our team in a sense when it fluctuates. We got guys in and out, guys still getting back and trying to find their legs, it’s gonna take Gabe a while, we already know that. Vando is pushing through what he’s pushing through, me with the ankle. So it’s just a lot. And we’re trying to figure it out with guys playing, not playing as far as rotations. Some games we might see Jaxson [Hayes] and [Christian] Wood. Some games were not. So, it’s just a lot. We got to still buckle down and find a way to get wins. So after 30 [games], I think it’s still tough to assess, but we know what we can be. We’ve shown what we can be. And we’ve shown that if we don’t do the things we need to do to be successful then we’re going to continue to be on this side of our record, which is losing. So just got to keep pushing through it and like I said, once we get our team healthy, it will be good to see what we can do on Saturday against another ballclub that’s very talented.”
The Lakers have two difficult matchups ahead in the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night and the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day, and while it’s unclear at this point if they’ll have their full roster available for either or both of those games, they cannot afford to have their losing streak extend to six.
Ham and the Lakers don’t necessarily need to figure out a rotation that works for the rest of the season, but they need to figure out a temporary fix to get L.A. back on track.
Jarred Vanderbilt potentially replacing D’Angelo Russell in Lakers starting lineup
One rumored change that the Lakers could be making to their starting lineup is subbing out point guard D’Angelo Russell in favor of Vanderbilt to focus even more heavily on defensive presence and energy. This would give the Lakers size and length at all five positions and would make it difficult for any opposing team to gain an offensive rhythm off the bat.
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