LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers remain in contention during a season full of ups and downs. With a record of 29 wins and 39 losses, the Angelenos’ campaign has fallen short and falls far short of expectations. On Monday night, they fell at home to the Toronto Raptors, 114-103.
“The players continue to fight every game and we continue to fight throughout the season. It was complicated, but we did not let go of the rope, ”said coach Frank Vogel after the defeat.
“We fell apart because we didn’t make shots or execute well enough, but our players keep fighting. There was a moment when we cut the deficit to six points with a minute left; we are down, but we are not giving up,” he added.
The Lakers had a very weak start in the game, as they only scored 12 points in the first quarter, against 33 for the Raptors. Once again, the Angelenos had to row against the starting current.
“For the second game in a row, we came out shooting very cold,” Vogel said. “It has happened to us in the last few games that there is a very bad quarter where we simply cannot score.”
Lebron James was the leading scorer for the Angels with 30 points, followed by Talen Horton-Tucker with 20. carmel anthony and Russell Westbrook each scored 14 points.
The Angelenos are not finding a good game together and the numbers on offense reflect it. The Lakers finished with a 39.1 field goal percentage and just 9 offensive rebounds.
The purple and gold have opted for a small lineup for much of the season, however, against the Raptors, which is an athletic and tall team, they had the loss of Dwight Howard due to a family emergency and the team resented it. With fewer options from tall men (Anthony Davis still injured from a sprained ankle), were outrebounded 64-43.
“It’s a game where we definitely could have used Dwight, they hurt us on the board. We are short, but we must keep pushing. We have become more and more used to playing with a small line-up, but we have length in the team”, explained Vogel. “When you’re not making shots and they’re rebounding or turning the ball over, it’s tough for the defense. Our effort was good to start with, but our offense is putting us in a tough spot.”
Lakers maintain hope of being in the postseason thanks to the “play-in” format; a form of playoff that was established in the 2020 season due to the pandemic. In this format, the seeds from the seventh to the tenth position will face unique matches in search of the last two tickets to the playoffs of each Conference.
The Angelenos are currently ranked number nine in the Western Conference. For example, if they stayed in that place, they would face the team in tenth position in the playoffs. They would then have to win that game and equally beat the loser of the bracket between 7th and 8th place, to then be the eighth seed in the postseason.
Now, the Lakers will embark on a four-game road trip, starting Wednesday at Minnesota.
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Lakers, despite defeat against Raptors: “We keep fighting”