The Lakers have been playing basketball since 1948, but the 2016-17 squad will go down in the record books for the wrong reasons after Sunday night’s 122-73 loss to the Mavericks.
The 49-point loss to Dallas set a new record for the most lopsided loss in franchise history, narrowly edging out last season’s 48-point loss to the Jazz for the dubious honor.
“We didn’t show up to play, honestly, which is frustrating,” coach Luke Walton told the media after the loss. “Honestly, it’s embarrassing for us as a team and for us as an organization, for our Laker fans that are so good to us.”
Scoring only 73 points and losing by 49 would be embarrassing on any night, but it’s especially bad to do it on the night when you’re remembering the 11th anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game against the Raptors. On the night the Lakers were celebrating the greatest offensive performance in franchise history, the current team went out and laid an egg in the worst loss the franchise has ever seen.
Comparing the box scores between Kobe’s night 11 years ago and the entire Lakers team on Sunday is a funny (or sad, depending on your affiliation) exercise.
Bryant went 28-of-46 (60.9%) from the field, 7-of-13 (53.8%) from three-point range and 18-of-20 (90%) from the free throw line for 81 points. On Sunday, the Lakers as a team went 28-of-73 (38.4%) from the field, 3-of-21 (14.3%) from three-point range and 14-of-17 (82.4%) from the free throw line for 73 points.
The Lakers will look for redemption on Wednesday against Portland, but Sunday night’s loss is etched in the record books forever (or until they lose by 50).
