As a result of the loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers have lost nine of their first 10 games of the 2014-15 NBA season. The future continues to look bleak for the purple and gold with Kobe Bryant playing all out and the rest of the team struggling to contribute on both ends of the floor.
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Kobe talked to the media in the Lakers locker room after he scored a season-high 44 points against the Warriors. Bryant said the following, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Kobe: "It's tough. This responsibility, it's on me. Things go good, it's us. Things go bad, it's me."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) November 17, 2014
It was basically a one-man show for the Lakers on Sunday with Kobe lighting up the scoreboard for his highest point total since returning from his Achilles injury back in December of 2013. Although Kobe was a force offensively, the rest of the team struggled in all aspects of the game.
Kobe doesn’t get a pass due to the 44-point performance as he also had a poor shooting night. Bryant hit 15 shots from the floor on 34 attempts. The superstar also missed a lot of those shots from beyond the arc going 3-for-12 from distance.
Jeremy Lin had arguably his worst game as a Laker going scoreless and dishing out one assists in 22 minutes on the floor. The only other starter to score in double digits outside of Kobe was Jordan Hill with 15 points. Hill also added 11 rebounds to the stat sheet.
After nine losses in 10 games, it is painfully obvious the team can no longer lean on Kobe to propel them to victories. Bryant may be as much to blame for the team’s struggles with his reluctance to change his game, but no one is stepping up when given the opportunity.
Fortunately, the Lakers will have Nick Young back in the lineup on Tuesday when the Lakers play the first of three games on the road starting with the Atlanta Hawks. Young will bring that added spark off the bench that has been sorely missed this season.
[divide]Jeremy Lin, “There’s So Many Things Wrong Right Now”