Thursday night was a measuring stick game for the Los Angeles Lakers against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. However, they failed in a big way as the Thunder blew them out from start to finish.
After the loss, Jake LaRavia admitted L.A. did not come out as the more physical team and their lazy turnovers spelled demise for them, although he emphasized the need to get past it and not dwell.
“I spoke to you before the game and I said we have to set the tone, we have to be the more physical team and we gotta play together,” LaRavia said on Spectrum SportsNet. “We started off the game with a lot of turnovers and they scored on pretty much every turnover. We didn’t execute the first play, I messed up the first play, which doesn’t set the tone for the team.
“I gotta be held accountable for that. Just obviously didn’t go our way at all tonight. The first game we’ve had like this in a long time. I feel like this was a test for us as far as playing against the number one team. We had guys battling through whatever it was, but we just gotta focus on the next game and continue to keep our heads straight.”
There are not a lot of things a coaching staff can say following an embarrassing loss of that caliber. The 24-year-old said the team knew what went wrong without any need of introspective conversations, however.
“Not really. We probably all knew what it was early on in that game about how we were playing and the execution on coverages and our defense and being able to execute offensively,” LaRavia said.
Similar to their first matchup with the Thunder back in November, Los Angeles got blitzed immediately and never recovered. Now with Luka Doncic sidelined until at least the end of the regular season because of a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, they need to do soul searching.
Five regular season games remain, but four are winnable with the other being a rematch against Oklahoma City. Finding a way to bounce back ahead of a looming first-round series will showcase how serious of a team they are, and LaRavia knows it will take everyone to make that happen.
Luka Doncic: Jake LaRavia ‘playing great’
LaRavia has struggled at times throughout the season trying to find a rhythm offensively, specifically with his jumpshot. His defense has remained strong though and the shooting has begun to come around.
LaRavia played a big part in the Lakers’ 15-2 March and Doncic took notice, crediting him for his strong play.
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