Los Angeles – The Los Angeles Lakers stay competitive during a season full of ups and downs. With a record 29 wins and 39 losses, the Angelenos campaign failed and far below expectations. Monday night, they fell to the ground in front of the Toronto Raptors, 114-103.
“The players keep fighting every game and we keep fighting all season. It was complicated, but we didn’t let go of the rope,” coach Frank Vogel said after the defeat.
“We collapsed because we didn’t shoot or shoot well enough, but our players keep fighting. There was a moment when we reduced the difference to six points a minute ago; we’re down but we don’t give up.”
The Lakers had a very poor start to the game, scoring just 12 points in the first quarter, compared to 33 for the Raptors. Once again, Angelenos had to argue against the starting tide.
“For the second game in a row, we went out shooting very cold,” Vogel said. “It’s happened to us in the last few games that there’s been a really bad quarter where we can’t score.”
LeBron James Angels was the top scorer with 30 points, followed by Taleen Horton Tucker with 20. Anthony Carmel And the Russell Westbrook All scored 14 points.
Angelenos don’t find a good game together and the numbers on attack reflect that. The Lakers finished 39.1 field goals and 9 offensive rebounds only.
Purple and Gold chose a small lineup for most of the season, however, and they lost to the Raptors, a tall athletic team. Dwight Howard Because of a family emergency, the team was upset. with fewer options than tall men (Anthony Davis Still injured from a sprained ankle), passed 64-43.
“It’s a game where we could definitely have used Dwight, they hurt us on the board. We’re short, but we have to keep pushing. We’re more and more used to playing with a small squad, but we have a tall team,” Vogel explained. “When you don’t shoot the ball and it bounces or flips the ball, it is difficult for the defense. Our efforts were good at the beginning, but our attack put us in a difficult situation.”
The Lakers keep hope of being in the post-season thanks to a “play-in” format; A form of playoff established in the 2020 season due to the pandemic. In this format, the seeds from 7th to 10th place will face unique matches in search of the last two tickets to the playoffs for each conference.
Angelenos are currently ranked 9th in the Western Conference. For example, if they stay in this place, they will face the team in tenth place in the playoffs. They would then have to win that match and beat the class loser between seventh and eighth, to then become the eighth seed in the post-season.
Now, the Lakers will embark on a four-game road trip, beginning Wednesday in Minnesota.