The Lakers have had a season full of low points, but they struck new ground below what was once thought to be rock bottom on Sunday night at home when they got waxed by the New Orleans Pelicans.
Things started to fall apart in the late second quarter for the Lakers, as they could not buy a bucket and turnovers mounted with 16 in the first half, as the Pelicans went on a run to stretch their lead to 11 at the break. That was, unfortunately for L.A., just the beginning of their dreadful night as the third quarter saw five more turnovers, even worse shooting, and a near complete disregard for the concept of defense from the Lakers, as the Pelicans outscored them 44-25 to take a 30-point lead to the fourth.
It was an awful performance from just about everyone, as LeBron James and Russell Westbrook combined for 14 turnovers, but it was the first turnover from DeAndre Jordan that really told the story of the Lakers night when he found himself with no one coming to help him after a rebound, had to dribble up near midcourt, and then chose to launch a pass that sailed over Wayne Ellington’s head by a good 6 feet, landing in the laps of some courtside fans.
No Words…. pic.twitter.com/sDp6Z0TXeT
— Coach Gibson Pyper (@HalfCourtHoops) February 28, 2022
For anyone that chose not to tune in to ESPN, it was probably a wise decision, but you did miss some really, stunningly terrible basketball from the Lakers. Jordan’s pass was the funniest, but there were at least four other Lakers passes that sailed over the heads of their intended target and landed out of bounds on the evening. It was so bad that at one point Richard Jefferson on the call for ESPN got so disgusted that he decided to just outright root for turnovers in hopes that the Lakers could at least set some records with their dreadful play.
https://twitter.com/ActionNetworkHQ/status/1498155658281041920
So, yeah, it wasn’t good.
