So far this season, the unit that’s supposed to be running it back looks like it’s running in neutral, starting games too slowly and surrendering far too many second-chance points
LOS ANGELES — How soon is too soon to worry?
If you’re a Lakers fan, you can start now. Yes, you. Worry.
Because after Wednesday night’s uninspired 125-110 loss to the Sacramento Kings, the Lakers are a middling 6-6 almost 15% of the way through the season.
It could be worse, you say. You’re old enough to remember that just last year, they started 0-5 and then 2-10 and wound up in the Western Conference finals.
But at that point last season, what ailed the Lakers was glaringly apparent. They were too small, and they were also short on shooting. Oh, and Russ was being Russ, as the ill-fitting Westbrook was still gumming up the works until the end of his ill-fated time as a Laker.
The Lakers fixed all that midway through last season, though. They traded for length and shooting and players who better complemented LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And, yes, they wound up in the Western Conference finals, a promising start for a unit that mostly remained intact this season for another run at the Denver Nuggets.
So far this season, the unit that’s supposed to be running it back looks like it’s running in neutral.
They’re still rolling out of the locker room wiping the sleep out of their eyes most games, getting beat by an NBA-worst 6.8 points per first quarter. (They lost Wednesday’s opening frame by 13, though they trailed by 20 just 10 minutes into the game.)
Overall, the Lakers have been outscored by 37 points on the season, in contrast with all the teams ahead of them in the standings who have outscored their opponents.
And they are giving up 18.4 points per game off of turnovers (21st in the NBA) and another 18.4 points per game on second-chance points (worst in the NBA).
Those are, at best, play-in tournament-level numbers for the currently eighth-place Lakers – if the prospect of a precarious play-in is something that might worry you.
Davis’ performance Wednesday ought to be worrisome too, even if you knew to expect a dip in output on the second night of a back-to-back set, and that chasing the speedy Kings around would be a challenge following the Lakers’ 134-107 victory over the struggling Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
But Davis’ output didn’t just dim, it all but disappeared.
The eight-time All-Star, who came in averaging 23.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, managed only nine points on 3-for-9 shooting to go with nine boards. His long, loping strides were replaced with lead-footed lollygagging behind the play.
And he confirmed postgame what was apparent during it, when he appeared uncomfortable even setting screens: His left hip, which experienced spasms last week, was bothering him.
“It’s tough man,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said, in Davis’ defense. “Sometimes you have games like that, when you’re not gonna be A-1, 100%, hitting on all cylinders every night.”
What that means is that even with the NBA’s new rules in place meant to encourage players to lace ’em up unless they’re physically unable to play, it’s buyer beware of back-to-backs – especially if such a game happens to be sandwiched between in-season tournament games like Wednesday’s game against the Kings.
The new tournament games “definitely raise the intensity on what would normally be a run-of-the-mill regular-season game,” Ham said after his team treated its non-tournament matchup with its Pacific Division rival Wednesday as a run-of-the-mill regular-season game.
That’s human nature, probably – but it’s not exactly championship mettle. The Lakers tried to try early Wednesday, but they didn’t have it, exerting so little energy to start that they had to exert too much on a hard, fruitless push late.
They better beware they don’t repeat that same mistake for the rest of the season. Because as long as 70 games seem to stretch out in front of them, it’s going to come at them fast.
