The Los Angeles Lakers have now lost seven straight games and this has resulted in Luke Walton looking to hold guys accountable.
The end of 2017 and the start of 2018 has been tough for the Los Angeles Lakers. With a lot of tough opponents in the past month, the losses have piled up for the Lakers. Since December, the Lakers have now lost seven straight games, as the team has been unable to snap the losing streak.
Injuries have certainly played a part in the Lakers’ struggles, as Brook Lopez, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram have all missed time because of injuries. In addition to the injuries, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been unable to play on the road due to a plea deal.
Even though being without multiple starters is clearly hurting the team, the Lakers can’t use that as an excuse, and they still have to go out and compete. Recently, the Lakers have had some very sluggish starts to the game, and that has resulted in large deficits that they can’t overcome.
Recently, Luke Walton talked about players having to be accountable. Here’s what he said via Spectrum Sports.
"“We continue to hold guys accountable for the way that we play, for the way that is acceptable for us to play. We trust that our players are made up of the character that they’re going to keep working extremely hard, because they don’t like losing and they want to get better. As long as we do that, we’ll be just fine at the end of it all.”"
For the Lakers, an extended losing streak shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. The Lakers play in the extremely tough Western Conference, and most games are against teams that are better than them. While they have improved talent-wise over last season, this is still a young team that is growing up.
Luckily for the Lakers, things do get a bit easier schedule-wise. Coming up, the Lakers will be at home for five games, with some easy matchups against the Atlanta Hawks and the Sacramento Kings.
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Hopefully, Lonzo Ball will also be returning during the home-stand, as the Lakers clearly are missing their starting point guard. When the Lakers get healthier, a few more wins should begin to trickle in. However, this season is all about player development, which is why Walton is holding players accountable.