"The 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers officially died a miserable underwhelming death" - NBA analyst's damning assessment of LeBron James and co., as their season continues to look bleak
Fox Sports analyst Nick Wright believes the Los Angeles Lakers' 2021-22 NBA season is officially over. The Lakers suffered a painful overtime loss at the hands of the bottom-ranked Houston Rockets on Wednesday. They are now nine games below the .500 mark. LA's chances of making a turnaround seem exceedingly low at this stage.
Wright has rooted for the Lakers to be the favorites coming out of the Western Conference before. However, he doesn't believe they have what it takes to get past the first round of the playoffs if they get there. Here's what he said regarding the 17-time NBA champions on the most recent episode of First Things First:
"They have puncher's chance. They'r done, they're dead, it's over. The 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers officially died a miserable underwhelming death last night. Here's why it's finished: Puncher's chance would mean, they've an actual shot at getting out of round one."
"To get out of round one, they would have to win six out of nine games. The first one would come against the Pelicans, the second one probably against the Timberwolves and then four out of seven against Phoenix."
Wright continued by saying:
"With or without Anthony Davis, this team, with this coach, and this roster has no chance. They haven't won six out of nine against anybody since December 15th, so they're dead, they're done, no puncher's chance, season over, I've to officially pick a new team to come out of the West."
"I'm here to tell you the Lakers don't have a puncher's chance. They're done. It's over. The 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers officially died a miserable, underwhelming death against the Rockets. It's finished. Season over."
— @getnickwright explains: https://t.co/XgXgMEfM7L
Los Angeles Lakers concede disappointing loss against Houston Rockets
The Los Angeles Lakers dropped points against two teams below the .500 mark in back-to-back outings. They already have the second-toughest schedule remaining, and these losses have only worsened their chances of doing well.
LA was expected to win against the Rockets as Stephen Silas' men had lost 13 of their last 14 games entering that matchup and were without starting center Christian Wood.
Jalen Green scored 10 of his career-high 32 PTS (13/21 FG) in OT vs the Lakers 🔥
He has scored 20+ in 7 of his last 9 games. https://t.co/z8drNn1wFm
The Lakers, meanwhile, had LeBron James back after a one-game absence. However, they couldn't hold on to win the tie down the stretch as James passed up a layup opportunity, kicking the ball out to Carmelo Anthony, who missed the go-ahead game-winning shot.
Jalen Green led Houston's charge with a career-high 32 points, while Russell Westbrook was the Lakers' best player as he bagged 30 points on the night. LeBron James also had a 23-point triple-double, but he wasn't as efficient with his shooting, knocking down only nine field goals on 26 attempts.
The Los Angeles Lakers are now five games behind the eighth-seeded LA Clippers and will have to win consecutive games in the play-in tournament to make it to the playoffs. The way they have performed so far, some suggest the Lakers could be out of play-in contention too.
It will be interesting to see how the Lakers respond to their back-to-back losses on the road moving forward.