The Los Angeles Lakers had a disappointing end to 2023 as they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans on the road in a back-to-back.
The Lakers have struggled greatly, losing eight of their last 11 since winning the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament. Their loss to Pelicans on New Year’s Eve dropped the team back to .500 at 17-17.
LeBron James was one of the lone bright spots in the loss to the Pelicans as he led all players with 34 points on 12-of-24 shooting to go along with five rebounds, eight assists and a block.
After the game, James discussed the frustration the Lakers are feeling being a .500 team going into 2024, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“For sure. But it is what it is. It is what our record is and we have to figure it out and get better, for sure.”
The December schedule was very unforgiving for the Lakers as they spent a lot of time on the road, including their trip to Las Vegas for the In-Season Tournament, and had numerous back-to-backs.
Things get better for them moving forward though as they play 10 of their 15 games at home in January, with one road game against being against the Clippers, and there only one back-to-back at the end of the month.
That should give the Lakers an opportunity to turn things around, but James cautioned that they can’t get comfortable just because they’re going home:
“It can help in the sense of giving ourselves an opportunity to not have to travel as much. But it can hurt in the sense of where you start feeling comfortable because you’re at home. So we have to understand that just because we’re home, we can’t relax now. Definitely feel better to be in your own bed, but at the end of the day we still got to go out and compete. Teams are going to come into our building looking to do the same thing they’re doing on the road.”
At 17-17, the Lakers can’t afford to get comfortable no matter where they’re playing. They have gotten stellar and healthy seasons from both James and Anthony Davis but don’t have much to show for it to this point.
In a loaded Western Conference, James understands that the wins need to start coming so hopefully that message will spread across the locker room.
Anthony Davis believes LeBron James as primary ball-handler is good for Lakers
Given the team’s recent struggles, head coach Darvin Ham has been tinkering with the Lakers lineup, trying a bigger group with LeBron as the only ball-handler. While the results haven’t been great, Davis believes that having James with the ball in his hands more will be good for the Lakers.
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