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Lakers forward shows his displeasure after another loss, this time in Atlanta
LeBron James has had enough of his team’s inconsistency. Of the lack of commitment of some of his teammates. Probably, even if he doesn’t say so, of coach Darvin Ham.
In short, of losing. The Los Angeles Lakers lost again, this time to the Atlanta Hawks (138-122), for the second night in a row. They are again with a negative balance (24-25) and are in ninth place in the West. The legend has plenty of reasons to be angry.
“Any night we can beat any team in the NBA, but any night any team in the NBA can kick our asses. What’s our record? 24-25. Under 50 percent? There you go,” he said in annoyance in the locker room after playing in back-to-back games for the first time this season, which at 39 years old is already an achievement.
“When I’m healthy enough to go out there and play, I try to play at a high level, help my teammates do great things on the court, try to be productive,” he said.
He had 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the absence of Anthony Davis, who was sidelined with a hip and Achilles tendon problem.
His 24.9 points and 12.1 rebounds on average were missed but especially his defence. “When he’s there, he protects us on that third line of defence. When he’s not, there has to be constant communication,” LeBron lamented.
The Lakers haven’t won four straight games so far this season. The three wins are their best of the season. After that, they slipped. From winning the In-Season Tournament and dreaming of everything to deep disappointments. LeBron is burnt out by that. There are three more away games coming up, two of them very complicated: Boston, New York and Charlotte.
Knowing their opponents had played the night before, the Hawks tried to get off to a flying start. Trae Young was incisive and finished with 26 points (six three-pointers) and 13 assists.
Dejounte Murray had 24 and nine, respectively. Five other Atlanta players reached the 10-point mark in scoring to lead by as many as 20 points in the third quarter. The Lakers never got below the 10-point barrier.
A dream January for the Knicks
New York is rubbing its eyes. The New York Knicks, who have been used to disappointment for years, are flying and are third in the East.
With their 118-103 win over the Utah Jazz, they have now won eight in a row and closed January with a 14-2 record. It is one of the best months in franchise history: in March 1994 they went 14-0 and in December 1968 they finished 15-3.
If Julius Randle and newcomer OG Anunoby can’t play, it doesn’t matter. The rest step up.
Donte DiVinzenzo, for example, scored 33 points with nine three-pointers, a personal best. He also stole four balls without committing any turnovers.
Those are numbers that only Damian Lillard has ever achieved in NBA history. Josh Hart had the first triple-double of his career (10+10+10) and Jalen Brunson, with 29 points, was in line with his career-high. Colin Sexton, who scored 22, was the Jazz‘s best.
Raptors come out of the doldrums
The Toronto Raptors snapped their worst losing streak of the season – five straight losses – by beating the Chicago Bulls 107-118.
Gary Trent Jr. had a team-high 24 points, including six three-pointers, but the effort and energy of Bruce Brown and Jordan Nwora were outstanding and key to the win. The former had 19 points and seven rebounds and the latter 17 points in just 19 minutes.
They led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but succumbed to the Canadian push. DeMar DeRozan, with 25 points, and Ayo Dosunmu, with 21, were the leading scorers for Chicago.
