Fans hoped the Los Angeles Lakers win over Houston was a sign that the team had turned a corner. But losses to New Orleans and Memphis has left both fans and players discouraged.
How damaging was the Los Angeles Lakers failure to defeat either the Anthony Davis-less Pelicans or the lowly Grizzlies?
In one context, losses like that happen in the NBA. After all, recently the Warriors lost at home to the Rockets, who were without James Harden, the Celtics fell to the weak Bulls, and the Spurs tumbled against the woeful Knicks.
But there are three other compelling reasons why the losses were more telling and why the Lakers might well fall short of their goal to make the playoffs.
3. Ingram is playing lights-out basketball
Many fans have been disappointed with what they perceived as Brandon Ingram’s lack of progress this season. They complained that his stats were somewhat similar to last year’s, his 3-point shooting was even worse, and he didn’t seem to fit very well alongside LeBron James.
But in the three games since the All-Star break, Ingram has scored 27, 29 and 32 points while hitting 30-of-53 shots, 56.6%. That is a continuation of good play that began when James was out with a groin injury. In his last 14 games, BI has averaged nearly 22 points while hitting over half his shots 10 times.
At the same time, Brandon has been playing excellent defense, using his long arms to disrupt players such as Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul.
Overall, Ingram is now playing the best ball of his career, demonstrating exactly what the Lakers saw in him when they drafted him second in 2016. He is proving that the team may already have an excellent top three in place with him, LeBron and Kyle Kuzma.
This should be great news and cause for celebration in Laker-land. And ultimately it may well turn out to be. But for now, at least, it hasn’t resulted in enough Lakers victories. Despite Ingram’s excellent play, the team has won only four of those 14 games.
The blame is certainly not Ingram’s. The Lakers have not been at full strength during his rise to maturity. First James was hurt, then Lonzo Ball. The team has been unable to compensate for its sidelined players and has not stepped up defensively.
The point is that even though a key young player has started meeting expectations, the team is still mired in mediocrity.