After a stunning 8-game winning streak, the Los Angeles Lakers have succumbed to two consecutive road losses. Their 108-111 defeat by the Nets came as a shock to many fans and was a direct result of the dismal shooting from their two guards, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
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Shannon Sharpe has made it clear that he expects the Lakers to win it all this year, but last night’s performance left him a little subdued.
Talking to Chad Johnson on Nightcap, Sharpe attributed last night’s loss to the Lakers’ poor shooting. Echoing coach JJ Redick’s words after the game, he said that the Lakers could not afford to take shortcuts while LeBron James is unavailable.
Playing without James meant Doncic and Reaves had more defensive coverage on them, and it was evident in the way they shot. The backcourt duo went a combined 11-of-40 from the field.
“Luka [Doncic] did not shoot the ball well again; Austin Reaves didn’t shoot the ball well,” Sharpe bemoaned. “Alex Len, he got great cardio in. 13 minutes, 0 points. He was just getting his cardio in.”
With the Lakers having one of the tougher schedules remaining in the NBA, they might end up missing James more than they realize and could be forced to bring him back sooner than they would’ve liked.
Chad Johnson commented on the Lakers’ loss too, claiming the comments about shortcuts were only made because of the heightened spotlight on the team. He agreed that poor shooting explained the loss but disagreed with the shortcuts excuse.
“Even if you did play hard and didn’t take any shortcuts, you weren’t winning that game tonight,” he said. “It’s not enough people that had production.”
Johnson does have a point there. Shake Milton and Alex Len, who combined for 20 minutes off the bench, scored zero points. The Lakers were missing LeBron, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jaxson Hayes, and Maxi Kleber last night.
The absence of these five offensive-minded players does explain the dropoff in production, but Ocho insisted that other players need to step up in situations like this.
The Lakers’ next 6 games have 4 contests against opposition above .500. They face the Nuggets and the Bucks twice in this stretch, and if they were to recreate last night’s shooting performances, they could lose by a lot more than just 3 points.
Yes, they are without LeBron James, but that’s no excuse to be shooting this poorly. They do have the perfect opportunity to bounce back in Denver, but seeing how they’d be without James, it might be a test of character more than anything else.
