Lakers hope for a small step ahead of Jazz – Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO – The way things are now expected, the Lakers will most likely see their season as a single game down.

It could be a helpful way to think about Wednesday night’s game against the Utah Jazz, their last game before the All-Star break.

The stakes aren’t nearly as high, and once the Lakers (26-31) return from the break, they will still have 24 games left. But they’ve lost 3 and 7 in a row of their last 9 games, and they’re in dire need of some success after a tumultuous trading deadline that seemed prepared for roster volatility – until it doesn’t. out.

They view the 117-115 loss to Golden State on Saturday night as progress. Somethings like that. LeBron James chuckles as he thinks back to the game against the second-place team in the Western Conference, a game he thinks is one of the Lakers’ best efforts lately, but one in which he shot a 10 in a game. 4th half and missed an important free throw.

“Unfortunately I probably had one of the worst quarters I’ve filmed during our time together,” he said. “But I definitely felt the energy. Energy is great. I thought we were connected throughout the game.”

The problem, however, isn’t that the Lakers haven’t shown greatness – it’s that they’ve struggled to show it consistently. James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook have only played 19 games together this season, and even in that subset (the Lakers are 10-9), they often struggle to put together three great performances in the same season. one night. The same is true of the supporting cast, which was a strong part of the offensive against Golden State but struggled to deliver multiple losses to Portland and Milwaukee last week.

Coach Frank Vogel admits that this confusing inconsistency is a big reason he’s still tweaking his starting lineup: The Lakers have started 28 different formations, with no particular group starting more than five games. .

“We didn’t win consecutively; I don’t know how many times we’ve won more than three times in a row this year,” Vogel said. “When you have a roster that matches up to three (contract) guys and mostly (minimum wage) guys for the rest of the way, someone is going to have to get out of the lock down. that starting group. I’ll do that in the first week of the season and stay with it if we get some traction with the squad. We have never. So we’re still looking.”

Even for this last game nine days before being sacked, the Lakers don’t find themselves completely: veteran forward Carmelo Anthony, who has missed each of the last three games since straining his right tendon. himself, was out as a precaution, and defended Avery Bradley, who had started 42 games, with swelling in his right knee.