Seventeen time NBA Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, have been making headlines all season, but it has always been for all the wrong reasons. A comedy of errors it has been at the erstwhile Staples Center this year, and that is putting it mildly. Russell Westbrook is out of sorts, Anthony Davis is unable to stay healthy, and Frank Vogel has been receiving barrages of criticism as the Lakers find it difficult to keep their heads above water. But most recently, the Lakers grabbed the headlines for one loss in particular – Sunday night against the New Orleans Pelicans. And man, was it ugly. The Lakers lost 123-95 to the new-look Pelicans, and outside of LeBron James, everyone on the team looked absolutely terrible. He simply had no help whatsoever. Westbrook had 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field and tallied seven turnovers to go along with it. And on top of that, the team as a whole shot 7-of-34 from behind the three-point line.
The Lakers are currently down by 30 at home to the 24-36 Pelicans. pic.twitter.com/8E0B23kJrp — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 28, 2022
THE BOOS CAME IN TORRENTS As though it was not bad enough to lose, the Lakers also managed to make news for some things that happened on the court – they got booed in their own arena. After James turned the ball over in the third quarter, the fans in Crypto.com Arena began to rain down boos at the team. More than a handful of the 17,536 spectators filed out of their seats and toward the exits, including team owner Jeanie Buss who left her spot with a few minutes remaining in the fateful third. At that point in the game, there was 6:00 left and the Lakers were down by 19 points, but, they would not get much better from there. “I don’t have an answer for tonight,” LeBron James said. “Obviously, you talk about the future, that’s for us to figure out. Who can know what can happen the next few weeks. But tonight from the six-minute point of the second quarter through the third, no answers.”
Lakers fans rain down boos after another LeTurnover. What has happened to this once great Franchise pic.twitter.com/D9nKTU4AeV — Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 28, 2022
NO SURPRISES, REALLY It has been typical recently for the Lakers to cede a double-digit lead before finally triggering a comeback effort. But out of the locker room, they instead crashed. New Orleans quickly racked up 16 points in the first five minutes of the second half, on the way to a 44-25 blowout in the third quarter alone. With how bad the Lakers have been playing lately, it did not come as a surprise that their fans had to resort to booing in the course of the game. And with Davis out for a while, the struggle bus could be here to stay. The question begging for an answer now is, can the Lakers turn things around before the playoffs? Right now, with a 27-33 record, having lost 7 out of their last 10 games and with 22 regular season games to go, it seems quite unlikely. But who knows, maybe they can manage to pull off the chestnut out of the fire.
Pelicans' new Twitter bio. Lakers can't catch a break 💀 pic.twitter.com/owqY8ISlMV — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 28, 2022
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