The Los Angeles Lakers are in a huge January slump. Since Jan. 7, they are 1-5 with an average point differential of minus-6.8. Austin Reaves has been out for all six games, while all of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes and Rui Hachimura missed at least one game in that stretch.
The injuries particularly caught up to L.A. on Saturday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers were without Reaves, Doncic, Hayes and Ayton, leading to a 42-27 rebounding margin in favor of Portland in what ended up being a 16-point loss for the purple and gold.
LeBron played on Saturday night, but had an uneven game with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on 6-for-16 shooting. He admitted, though, that the Lakers can’t afford to simply accept losses because of health, and need to find ways to stay afloat while not healthy, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, we have to. Because at the end of the day, no one is feeling sorry for us, nor are we looking for it. We have what’s available and we gotta go out there and play our game, play the way we want to play offensively and defensively and just try to right the ship until we get whole.”
The Lakers don’t have much time to get things in order, as they play again Sunday night against the Toronto Raptors in L.A. Toronto has been one of the surprises of the 2025-26 season, as they are No. 4 in the Eastern Conference with a 25-18 record.
The Lakers are also one loss away from dropping to the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, as the Phoenix Suns are just percentage points behind L.A. All of that is to say that if the Lakers are going to right the ship, they’re going to have to do it before being fully healthy, as James stated.
LeBron James discusses inconsistencies with officiating
The Trail Blazers shot 34 free throws on Saturday night, including an NBA season-high 22 in the first quarter alone. After the game, Redick and James focused on the lack of consistency from NBA refs from night to night, saying that a specific tone needs to be set and that it continues to change when the Lakers feel they have a grasp on it.
Neither used it as an excuse for losing, but were just venting frustration about officiating issues that they clearly have been discussing for some time now.
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