For the Lakers, there’s no place like home.
The Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up their road trip in Memphis on Wednesday night, getting blown out by the Grizzlies 131-114. After leaving Los Angeles undefeated in their first three, the Lakers mustered just one win in their five games on the road and fell to a disappointing 4-4.
The disheartening road trip emphasized significant issues the team must address moving forward.
LeBron can’t win games by himself
The Lakers were significantly under-packed for the last night of their road trip, playing without two of their key starters. Forward Rui Hachimura was ruled out because of illness, while star player Anthony Davis — who leads the league with 32.6 points per game — was sidelined after re-aggravating an injury in his left foot.
Without two of their starters in the lineup, the Lakers’ offensive game plan boiled down to resemble the name of first-year head coach JJ Redick’s acclaimed podcast — The Old Man and the Three.
James — in his 1,500th career game — appeared dominant as ever with 39 points, six assists, and seven rebounds, shooting 15-24 (62.5%) from the field with six three-pointers. However, the rest of the offense dragged behind him. Without their big man down low, the Lakers retreated to the perimeter, attempting a season-high 48 deep balls with only 15 makes to show for it (31%).
James stood by the team’s shot selection in his postgame interview, noting, “We had some great execution tonight where shots literally did not fall. We executed to a tee and they did not fall.”
Although they found open looks, the Lakers have not demonstrated the ability to adopt a three-pointer-focused offense. The team currently ranks 23rd in 3PT% (33.3%). The guard trio of D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reeves, and Dalton Knecht have yet to find their strides from beyond the arc, combining for an abysmal 5-25 (20%) from deep in Wednesday’s contest. Unfortunately for James, it’s not 2018 anymore and he needs all the help he can get in order to win games.
Defense has been an ongoing concern for the Lakers
Although the offense wasn’t clicking throughout the contest, James emphasized that missed shots aren’t why the Lakers lost, noting “The execution offensively is not the problem, we have to compete and we have to defend.”
The Lakers offered little resistance to the Grizzlies offense. Not only did Memphis score 130+ points, but they did so while shooting 51.6% from the field and a whopping 50% from beyond the arc. The trio of Ja Morant, Jaylen Wells, and Jaren Jackson Jr. combined for 60 points with 20 apiece.
“They run a wheel action, it’s a really good offense and they killed us on that,” noted Coach Redick in his postgame interview. “Got corner threes, got back cuts, allowed the ball to get middle too much. Yeah, so you’re going to lose.”
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Defensive miscues have not been an anomaly for the team, though. The Lakers are currently the fourth-worst team in basketball in terms of defensive rating (117.6). The team has allowed the seventh most points per game (118.4) at the third-highest field goal percentage (49.1%).
Looking closer to the rim, the Lakers rank 29th in blocks per game (3.6) and 26th in opponent points in the paint (54.3). With the exception of Davis — who ranks eighth in the league with 1.7 blocks per game — the Lakers have less paint presence than a blank canvas.
Heading back to Los Angeles, the Lakers look to rebound against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. Coach Redick mentioned that Davis could be available for the matchup, although nothing has been confirmed.
