LeBron James posted a 39-point triple-double while Anthony Davis was just two assists away from a 38-point triple-double himself. And it still wasn’t enough as the Los Angeles Lakers lost for the seventh time in nine games, falling 134-132 in overtime to the Atlanta Hawks.
Injuries have hurt the Lakers as Austin Reaves has missed the last four games while the frontcourt has been without Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood all year. Not to mention Jaxson Hayes has been dealing with an ankle issue for weeks now.
Because of all of this, the rotation has been pretty limited for the Lakers, but James still feels the Lakers can come out of this as long as they don’t completely collapse. Following the loss to the Hawks, LeBron mentioned the injuries, but says the Lakers just can’t drown right now, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We have about five guys in our top 11 that are not in uniform. We’re mixing and matching a lot as we try to find ways obviously, so it’s very challenging. We didn’t have much room for error at the beginning of the season so to have five guys out, AR out, Vando out, C-Wood has not played this year, Jaxson. So it’s some big pieces. I don’t know as far as what will help us get over the hump, we just gotta just not drown. Don’t drown and we’ll be alright.”
Some might argue that the Lakers are already drowning with the results over these last few weeks. Four of the Lakers’ recent losses have been by at least 25 points and the effort and energy has been awful. That part turned around against the Hawks as the Lakers showed plenty of fight behind James and Davis, but it still didn’t result in a victory.
Not having Reaves in the lineup has been rough as he is so important as a scorer and creator and helps take so much pressure off LeBron. But the lack of front court depth makes a huge impact as well, particularly not having Vanderbilt who is one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball. But LeBron knows the Lakers can’t use anything as an excuse and, at the end of the day, must figure out a way to get back in the win column.
LeBron James sums up what went wrong for Lakers in loss to Hawks
LeBron James did everything possible to help the Lakers pick up a victory in Atlanta, but they ultimately came up just short.
James was very straightforward when discussing what went wrong, saying the Hawks simply ‘made a couple more plays’ than the Lakers and that was the difference in a two-point loss.
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