As the Los Angeles Lakers continue to fade further from the Western Conference playoff picture, so too do memories of a team that was beginning to find its footing. In what seemingly still stands as the peak of their season, the Lakers haven’t been the same since Christmas Day.
That can be directly traced to LeBron James and Rajon Rondo each suffering a injury against the Golden State Warriors that led to a longterm absence for both. With that came uneven stretches of play and losses to inferior opponents.
While James and Rondo have since returned, the Lakers were defeated by the Phoenix Suns. “Lost to a team we should’ve beat. That’s the most frustrating thing,” Kyle Kuzma said.
More telling, however, was Kuzma’s assessment of the team as a whole. “I’m honestly not even sure,” he answered when asked how the Lakers can turn the tide. “Obviously there’s something wrong with this team. It’s up to us to try and fix it.
“I think it’s more defense, but being together as a whole, playing for one another, having each other’s backs, I think it’s more of that type of stuff.”
Kuzma previously opined the Lakers needed to revert back to playing with the joy they had earlier in the season. They came out of the All-Star break with an impressive win against the Houston Rockets by erasing a 19-point deficit.
But they now have suffered consecutive losses and are just 2-4 after the break. Overall this season, the Lakers lost games to the Memphis Grizzlies (twice), Orlando Magic (twice), Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and Suns.
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