Lakers coach JJ Redick points and direct his team during the fourth quarter of a loss to the Rockets on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
When the Lakers were climbing up the Western Conference standings, improbably winning games with LeBron James and Doncic injured and celebrating Austin Reaves’ 51-point performance and ascent into stardom, the vibes were high. Players jumped off the bench to cheer for each other. They championed team bonding exercises such as slideshow presentations that introduced themselves to each other and a field trip to a Porsche driving experience. It all felt surprisingly easy, especially for a team that had several new additions.
“We had it,” Redick said wistfully Thursday. “We had it. I always say this about culture, I always say this about a good team being a functioning organism.”
Redick snapped his fingers.
“It can change like that,” he continued. “We don’t have it right now.”
All three of the Lakers’ most recent losses have been blowouts. With an average margin of defeat of 20.7 points, their total point differential has dropped to minus-15 on the season, which ranks 16th in the NBA.
Forward Jake LaRavia said in the locker room that there felt like a “disconnect” on the team, but couldn’t verbalize more about how things had turned so suddenly. The team’s seven-game winning streak at the end of November feels like a distant memory, although it should serve as a constant reminder of how a team shouldn’t let its guard down, especially when it was collecting wins off teams with losing records.
“This [has] kind of been the trending thing even when we were winning,” forward Jarred Vanderbilt said. “Obviously wins kinda shadow a lot of stuff. But it’s been the same pretty much all year of how we finished games, lose games: transition defense, rebounding and stuff like that. It’s been a trend all year.”
LeBron James, who played in his 13th game this season after missing the first 14 because of sciatica, had 18 points and five assists but declined to speak with reporters after the game, along with Marcus Smart (six points, two rebounds) and Rui Hachimura (zero points, two assists).
To further exasperate the lingering injury bug, Reaves left the game after the first half because of left calf soreness. It was the same calf that sidelined him for three games last week.