|
If only the Lakers could address their issues as soon as Nick Young shook his rust off.
For the first time in nearly two weeks, the Lakers fielded their starting backcourt that played a large part in their offense quickly becoming one of the NBA’s most prolific. But the Lakers showed in their 118-112 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday at Staples Center that it will take more than D’Angelo Russell building his rhythm again to stop the team’s six-game losing streak.
Russell admittedly “felt out of rhythm” as he had three points on 1-of-8 shooting and four turnovers with a minute restriction (18) that included sitting out in the fourth quarter. Russell could shake off that rust when the Lakers (10-16) play against the Sacramento Kings (8-15) on Monday at Golden 1 Center to open a seven-game trip. Young might build off of his 15-point effort on 6-of-11 shooting despite not even completing any games of 3-on-3 in Saturday’s practice.
But the Lakers (10-16) will also have to fix a poor defense that Lakers forward Julius Randle called “embarrassing” for understandable reasons.
Quick Take: Despite the recent losing streak, the Lakers are in 9th place in the West, which isn’t that bad considering how young the Laker squad is and the injuries they’ve dealt with so far this season. Above them in the West standings in 8th place are the Trail Blazers. The biggest Laker problem this season has been their awful defense, so pay extra attention to the squad on that side of the floor.
