The bar for the Lakers to clear Friday night to look functional was remarkably low, a pair of unimaginably bad losses in Minnesota and Miami making “don’t get embarrassed” the primary hurdle the Lakers needed to clear.
But the goals, even after two brutal performances, are higher than that.
The Lakers, while technically 70 points worse than the Timberwolves and Heat, have shown they can be a winning team, a team that can share the ball, hit shots and, on occasion, credibly defend.
“The consistency is probably the frustrating part,” coach JJ Redick said before the game. “It’s the consistency because the group has shown that they can do it. The guys have shown that they can do it. It’s just the consistency for everything.”
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Against the suddenly hot Hawks, the Lakers showed that they could, in fact, do the things required to win. And they did so many of the things that usually cause teams to lose.
But victory doesn’t require perfection — just an advantage. And the Lakers couldn’t end with one. Their 134-132 overtime loss was full of things they did well and crucial mistakes that meant they left with a loss.
With the Lakers up one in overtime, Anthony Davis’ pass to LeBron James was too casual, and Dyson Daniels stepped in front for the steal, no defenders between him and a go-ahead basket. But James, like he has so many times, caught up to the play from behind, a game-saving swat of the ball tipping the edge just so slightly back to the Lakers.
The Lakers, though, couldn’t cleanly inbound the ball, and Atlanta forced a tie-up with Davis and got possession after the ball went out of bounds off James.
With the game on the line, the one player on the court whom the Lakers didn’t want open, Trae Young, got open and hit a go-ahead three. James’ last-ditch chance to flip the game one final time with a potential winning three clanked off the rim, and the Lakers lost for the seventh time in nine games.
“I don’t know as far as what will get us over the hump,” a clearly frustrated James said. “We just gotta just not drown. Don’t drown and we’ll be all right.”
Redick, in an attempt to get more physicality on the court, moved guard D’Angelo Russell back to the bench and started Gabe Vincent. Austin Reaves remained out, back in Los Angeles recovering from the injury to his back/pelvic area that has cost him four games.
“We can be better. Energy, effort, physicality — I think we took a huge step tonight but I think we’re capable of a lot,” Vincent said. “We’re still not whole. We can be better, for sure.”
Vincent responded with his best game as a Laker, scoring 12 points and playing the kind of defense the Lakers wanted. But he and Davis miscommunicated on a switch at the top of the key leading to Young’s three, crushing the Lakers on a night when they played mostly good basketball.
“Messed up,” Redick said. “…Left him open.”
James scored 39 points with 11 assists and 10 rebounds, hitting six of 11 from three. Davis had 38 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, bouncing back after a miserable game in Miami.
“If we continue to bring this mentality we had tonight,” Davis said, “we’ll be fine.”
The Lakers, who have been in a lifeless slump for most of the last two weeks after a heartbreaking loss to Orlando and spirit-snapping one to familiar foe Denver, found an actual rhythm early in the second half. They unleashed a 13-0 run on the Hawks, flying around the court, getting stops while converting on the offensive end, James even hitting a one-legged three, his dry spell seemingly solved.
But as soon as they did that, Atlanta made three straight threes, dashing any hope of rolling to the end.
In the fourth quarter, the Lakers’ execution and decision-making were good. Until they weren’t.
Leading in the final minutes, the Lakers tried to bleed the clock by inbounding the ball with it running, the shot clock not yet triggered. Daniels hustled for the ball and Davis jumped in front of him and got called for an illegal screen.
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Daniels scored on the next possession to put the Hawks up. The Lakers scored twice late to tie the score, and Max Christie blocked Young’s potential winner to send the game to overtime.
The Lakers (12-11) didn’t get embarrassed. But they didn’t win either. The bar on this trip has been lowered, the Lakers forced to find silver linings after their opponent made more big plays than they did.
“I told the group that I appreciated their effort, their intent, their energy. And truthfully, a lot of their execution,” Redick said. “We did enough to win a basketball game. Similar to Orlando, similar to Oklahoma City, I thought we did enough to win a basketball game. And I’m very appreciative of that.
“And you can build on that. You can adjust and scheme and maybe tweak some things, late game. That stuff you can build on.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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