The Lakers dipped below .500 on Tuesday night with their second straight loss to a non-playoff opponent, getting smoked by the reeling Atlanta Hawks, 138-122, one night after a double digit loss to the Houston Rockets.
It continues a frustrating trend for the Lakers of being unable to string together any positive momentum, as any time they win a game or two they immediately give those gains in the standings back with a couple of losses. Not only that, it’s not even a matter of playing great competition, as LeBron James bluntly explained the Lakers current situation after the game, noting on any given night the Lakers are capable of beating any team or getting their “ass kicked” by any team in the league.
LeBron James on the 24-25 Lakers: “We could on any given night beat any team in the NBA. And then on any given night we could get our ass kicked” pic.twitter.com/IlKra5XAmy
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 31, 2024
The Lakers record in the month of January bears that out, as they have wins over top teams like the Thunder and Clippers, while also losing to the Grizzlies, Nets, and Hawks. Every night feels like a roulette spin and it’s just a matter of whether it comes up red or black as to which Lakers team shows up. The real question facing the Lakers right now with the trade deadline looming is: What changes could get them to raise their floor?
Any team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis has a pretty high ceiling, but the problem right now is they also have a floor of “one of the 10 worst teams in the NBA.” That’s a problem when you’re trying to get to the playoffs, and they have to figure out what could stabilize their level night-to-night so they can no longer be such a high variance group, as LeBron so bluntly laid out on Tuesday.
