The Los Angeles Lakers are reeling as they’ve dropped four consecutive games, with their most recent loss coming against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Lakers were without LeBron James, but managed to put up a strong showing before they eventually let go of the rope in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles looked much more engaged on both ends of the floor, but ultimately they would suffer another loss that brings their record to 15-14.
Not much more could have been asked of the team given the circumstances, but with the losses piling up it’s hard to feel optimistic that things will get better soon. Even when Anthony Davis has a dominant night like he did against Minnesota, the rest of Los Angeles’ roster has to step up.
Austin Reaves continued his torrid scoring streak by recording another 20-point game and while he’s confident in his offensive game, he emphasized wanting the Lakers to get back to winning, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I feel good,” Reaves said. “Confident, playing the game the right way. Game feels like it’s in a good spot, shot feels good. Just being out there on the basketball court feels good. Now it’s just about figuring out how to win these games, that’s all that matters to me. I don’t care about stats, I don’t care about all of the notoriety and all that stuff, I just want to win games.”
Reaves has always only cared about winning basketball games, doing whatever’s asked of him in order to get the job done. Darvin Ham originally started Reaves to begin the 2023-24 season, but moved him to the bench in order to balance out the starting lineup and the bench.
With how well Reaves is playing, Ham should seriously consider re-inserting him into the starting lineup though he’s hesitant to make any changes. Ham thinks a change could be on the table at some point, but he is trying to keep some level of consistency with the rotations.
However, with games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics next, Ham might have no choice but to play Reaves more.
Anthony Davis: Lakers need to solve struggles
The Lakers have been linked to several players in the trade market, though the front office is taking a measured approach despite the losing streak. In the meantime, Davis said that he and the team have to figure things out because as of now, reinforcements aren’t on the way.
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