LeBron James didn’t sugarcoat his more and more bitter emotions after Los Angeles Lakers spiraled to its tenth loss in 13 video games on Friday night time, falling 127-113 to the Memphis Grizzlies.
“We simply suck proper now,” a visibly perturbed James stated after he scored 32 factors within the Lakers’ fourth consecutive loss.
Anthony Davis had 31 factors in Los Angeles’ newest discouraging defeat since profitable the inaugural NBA In-Season Match. The Lakers — who gave up a season-high 23 3-pointers to a Memphis workforce that’s final within the NBA in 3-point capturing proportion — have overwhelmed solely San Antonio, Oklahoma Metropolis and Charlotte since elevating the trophy in Las Vegas 4 weeks in the past.
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Earlier than the sport, coach Darvin Ham stated he felt assured in his job safety due to his discussions with proprietor Jeanie Buss and basic supervisor Rob Pelinka. After the Lakers’ newest dismal effort, Ham praised his workforce’s areas of enchancment whereas expressing a curious frustration with the general public reception of their current struggles.
“That is the NBA, man,” Ham stated. “It is a marathon. You must have a look at the totality of the image. I’m bored with individuals dwelling and dying with each single sport we play. It’s ludicrous, truly. It’s like, ‘Come on, man. It is a marathon.’ We hit a troublesome stretch. It’s the identical workforce. We performed some high-level video games a short time in the past, and we’ve simply obtained to get again to that. We’ve obtained to maintain the combat, although. We can’t lose our combat.”
James doesn’t share his coach’s optimism. “That was simply two video games, although,” James stated. “That was a small pattern. Everyone is getting so cracked up about Vegas, preserve citing Vegas. It was two video games. We took care of that enterprise … however that was actually simply two video games.”
Austin Reaves had 19 factors and a career-high 12 assists, however the Lakers dropped to 0-2 to start a 12-game stretch with only one sport outdoors of Los Angeles. “We obtained some fairly attractiveness,” James stated. “They turned us over. I had two important turnovers, missed 4 free throws. However we had our possibilities.”
Jaren Jackson Jr. hit 5 3-pointers and scored 31 factors and Marcus Good added 29 factors with a season-high eight 3-pointers for the Grizzlies, who earned simply their second win in six video games.
Desmond Bane had 24 factors and 13 assists whereas Ja Morant scored 21 factors for Memphis. Good had missed 16 consecutive 3-point makes an attempt over the previous 5 video games in a low-percentage capturing season earlier than he hit the primary of his 8 3-pointers towards the Lakers. Ziaire Williams added 10 of his 15 factors within the fourth quarter whereas the Grizzlies pulled away from the Lakers with a game-ending, 24-10 run.