"It was an ugly stat sheet to look at" - Lakers greats dissect team's shortcomings after dismal outing against Magic
The Los Angeles Lakers had a dismal outing in their road game against the Orlando Magic on Saturday, and some of the team’s former players shared their take on it.
Speaking on Spectrum SportsNet, Lakers greats James Worthy and Robert Horry broke down what contributed to the 120-101 loss of the purple and gold to the Magic.
Worthy, who won three titles with Los Angeles in the 1980s, underscored how the Lakers just did not come out with the consistency needed to beat a team like Orlando. He said:
“I know it is still early but I think they took a step back in this game because regardless of the lineups, regardless of back-to-back games, overtimes or whatever… The first and the third quarters have to be critical.
“When you come out and you dig a whole like that, you give a young team like [Orlando] that type of encouragement, you’re digging yourself a hole. Statistically, it was an ugly stat sheet to look at.”
For Horry, who also won three titles with the Lakers in the 2000s, he felt Los Angeles came out flat and somehow underestimated their opponent, saying:
“Orlando is a scrappy team and you have to put a lot of energy to match that energy. And sometimes the Lakers are like “Hey, we are the LA Lakers,’ but everybody wants to beat the Lakers, everybody wants to beat LeBron James, sometimes they forget that.”
Orlando got its way from the starting block, jumping to a 14-point advantage, 39-25, at the end of the opening quarter. They never looked back after.
The Lakers lost out on the boards, 51-40, and saw their 17 turnovers turned into 22 points by the Magic.
Los Angeles was limited to an eight-man rotation for a second straight game as it was without Rui Hachimura (concussion protocol), Taurean Prince (knee), Gabe Vincent (knee), Jalen Hood-Schifino (knee) and Jarred Vanderbilt (knee).
Anthony Davis led the Lakers in the losing cause, finishing with 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks. LeBron James had 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. Austin Reaves added 20 points.
The loss dropped the team to a 3-3 record and kept it winless on the road so far this season.
The next game for the Lakers is a showdown against the defending Eastern Conference champions Miami Heat on Monday.
LeBron James wants the Lakers to improve on offensive rebounding
The tough loss that they absorbed at the hands of the Orlando Magic on Saturday provided added perspective to Lakers superstar LeBron James on the things they have to improve on moving forward. He, in particular, highlighted offensive rebounds.
Los Angeles was outrebounded by Orlando, 51-40, in their 120-101 loss. It gave away 19 offensive rebounds while only getting 10. Also digging the team in was the 22 points that the Magic got from the 17 turnovers that the Lakers had.
Speaking to the Associated Press, James shared:
“That’s definitely been our trend - offensive rebounds and points off turnovers. We'll do a good job of getting a stop and then an offensive rebound allows them to score.
“It definitely helps when you have bigger bodies. We have three of our bigger bodies out right now with injuries. ... It would help, but that’s definitely one of the ways we have to look at to get better.”
The game was the first of four straight road games on the schedule of the Lakers. Interestingly, they have yet to win in away games this season.