Lakers have trouble figuring out Hornets

LOS ANGELES (Compton Bulletin) – Two days before Christmas, the Los Angeles Lakers did not get the present that they wanted, and that’s a hopeful diagnosis of forward/center Anthony Davis. 

It turns out that Davis is out of the lineup indefinitely, thanks to a stress fracture found in his right foot, according to a released statement by the team. It’s an unfortunate set of events for a team trying to climb out of an early-season hole that they dug themselves in.

Losing Davis, who was playing at an All-Star level before his latest injury, hurts the Lakers in several areas. Davis had been averaging just over 27 points and a little more than a dozen rebounds per game. 

Not only that, but with his length, Davis is able to alter a game just by his presence in the paint.  Those are dominating stats. Good luck to anyone willing and capable of trying to fill those shoes. 

The Lakers and head coach Darvin Ham could have used Davis and his incredible wingspan in their 134-130 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena. The Hornets came into the game as the second-worst team in the NBA. The Hornets had eight wins on the season before they played the Lakers. 

After running up and down the Crypto.com Arena like they were the Golden State Warriors, the nine-win Hornets handed the Lakers their 19th (13-19) defeat on the season. It was a loss that did not sit well with Ham.   

“We just didn’t make enough plays,” Harvin said after the game. “My hats off to Coach Cliff (Steve Clifford); helluva coach, great, young ballclub. You know their record is what it is, but they’ve got some really talented guys that have been in big moments and have closed out games. 

“But at the end of the day, this one pisses me off a little bit because, again, we constantly talk about as a team, as a staff, our self-inflicted wounds, not protecting the paint, not holding teams to one possession after we’ve played our tails off defensively to give up second and third opportunities to them on the glass. And then once we get the ball, you know, not being disciplined with our running habits, turning the ball over.”   

There are a couple of things that drew the ire of Ham. First, the Hornets scored 62 points in the paint. The Lakers managed to get 46 points down under. Looking more like the Showtime Lakers, Charlotte had more fast break points (29) than the Purple and Gold (10). 

And those 17 turnovers that the Lakers committed during the game resulted in 32 points for the Hornets. In comparison, Charlotte turned the ball over 16 times. The Lakers, however, managed to get just 11 points out of the deal. This would explain why Ham is ticked off.    

“We have to do a much, much better job of maintaining competitiveness, closing out teams, holding them to one possession-possession by possession-just holding them to one shot, and when we get the ball being organized, being better organized. And as a staff, we’re going to work our asses off to make sure we do just that,” Ham said.    

The Lakers shot well enough from the field (52 percent) to win. Charlotte just shot better (55 percent). With LeBron James dropping 34 points, the Lakers managed to score 30 or more points in three of the four quarters, including racing to 43 points in the final period. 

It wasn’t enough to slow down the youthful Hornets. James scored 18 of his game-high totals in the fourth quarter when the Lakers outscored Charlotte 43-37. 

It was a monstrous effort by James. It wasn’t enough. Ham pointed out that it’s going to take more than a herculean effort by James on a nightly basis to rescue the Lakers.    

“We just can’t assume that because of them is out we have first-ballot Hall of Famers on this roster that we can just play around this game and waste possessions and someone is going to put their cape on and come save the day,” Ham remarked. “You know, we have to get out in front of things. We have to be the ones to set a tone, not match someone else’s energy.”