Unlike other years, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t look bad at all this season. But there’s a pattern that’s not good, which is that they have poor starts to the games. LeBron James recently addressed this situation, saying it’s something they need to change to string better results together.
“We gave ourselves a fighting chance but it’s kind of tough when you go down that many points, especially when you’re going into the fourth against a high-powered offense,” James said following their loss to the Dallas Mavericks, via Lakers Nation.
The Purple and Gold went to halftime trailing 62-46, but the difference went up to 20 points at some point in the fourth quarter. They still managed to bounce back and turn things around, until Kyrie Irving sealed the win for the Mavs with a late three-pointer.
The Lakers have gotten used to coming from behind this season, pulling off a number of comeback wins so far. Darvin Ham’s team has even won six of its last eight games, but it won’t be easy to keep that going if it fails to start the games strongly.
LeBron James looks on during a Lakers game
“I liked our defense in the last 12 minutes. We just got to be better for the first 36. It’s not ideal, but it’s good to have it. But it’s not ideal. I love the fourth quarter, obviously. I just hate going into that situation what we were down,” The King added.
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The Lakers aim to improve what they did last season
The Lakers headed into this season with one clear goal: to try and build on their trip to the 2023 Conference Finals. They already started the 2023-24 campaign better than last year, when they got off to a 2-10 start.
Many things happened in between, especially in the February trade deadline, when Rob Pelinka pulled off a number of moves to rebuild the roster. With D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt joining the team, the Lakers enjoyed an impressive resurgence in the second half of the campaign and finished 7th in the West, beating the Timberwolves in the Play-In.
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Los Angeles went on to beat Memphis and Golden State in six games, but the Denver Nuggets exposed they still had plenty of work to do to contend. Therefore, this offseason the front office made even more moves.
Rob Pelinka seized the free agency to land the likes of Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, and Christian Wood. Besides, he tied Russell and Vanderbilt to contract extensions. The Lakers are currently 7th in their Conference with a 9-7 record. Only time will tell if they ultimately improve what they did last year.
