The Los Angeles Lakers lost their 47th game of the season on Monday night. The Denver Nuggets wiped the floor with the visiting Lakers, coming away with an easy 28-point victory at the Pepsi Center.
After the ugly loss to the Nuggets, rookie center Ivica Zubac was disappointed in his team’s performance. Zubac, who had a career night, believes this young Lakers squad should ashamed after for their lack of competitiveness on the floor, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters
Ivica Zubac after loss: "All the young guys are playing, we should all be happy to be on the court…We should be ashamed"
(on @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/Gg3sXSK2eV— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 14, 2017
Zubac finished with a career-high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds against the Nuggets. The Croatian center was extremely efficient in the loss missing only three of his 15 shots.
Outside of fellow rookie Brandon Ingram, who finished with 14 points on 7-12 shooting, no other starter or primary bench player shot well in the loss. Jordan Clarkson finished with 19 points on 7-18 from the floor while Julius Randle went 3-for-8 for eight points.
After being demoted to the bench in favor of Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell struggled, going 4-14 from the floor. The second-year guard ended his night with 10 points, three steals and three assists in a forgettable performance by both the 21-year-old and the majority of the Lakers squad.
These lackadaisical performances by the Lakers are becoming all too common in the final stretch of the 2016-17 season. The team has seemingly thrown in the towel with 15 games left on the schedule.
The Lakers will continue their short road trip on Wednesday. Zubac and company will go head-to-head with MVP candidate James Harden and the Houston Rockets before heading home to host the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday at the Staples Center.
