The Los Angeles Lakers endured a rollercoaster ride throughout 2023, and they’re likely glad the year is over. The burgeoning optimism they felt after a couple of trades early in the calendar year sparked a deep playoff run in May is history, and concern and even pessimism are the predominant emotions right now for the team.
It came into its New Year’s Eve contest at the New Orleans Pelicans still hurting over Saturday’s close loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Los Angeles was hoping to avoid falling to .500 after losing seven of its previous 10 games.
The Lakers fell behind early as Zion Williamson went to work in the paint and CJ McCollum went into volcano mode by making five 3-pointers in the first quarter. They trailed by as many as 19, and they were outrebounded 30-19 while giving up 17 second-chance points and a season-high 74 points in the first half.
LeBron James and crew never really made any type of charge afterward, and they got pecked hard by the Pelicans, 129-109.
The bugaboos for L.A. were the same as they had been for many of its losses so far this season: rebounding and 3-point shooting. It was just 10-of-32 from 3-point range, while the Pelicans made half of their 34 attempts. That 21-point disparity in made 3-pointers was the latest episode of what has been a huge problem so far this season.
The good news for the Lakers is they’re heading home and will play 11 of their next 12 games at Crypto.com Arena. The bad news is that they’re now 17-17 and in ninth place in the Western Conference, and if they are to have any shot at contending for the NBA championship, they have a big hole to get out of.
Anthony Davis: B-minus
Davis has had a dominant December, but on Sunday, he had an underwhelming performance. While he shot a decent 7-of-15 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line, he scored only 20 points. He picked up his fourth foul with 7:18 left in the third quarter, and as a result, he sat out the rest of the period.
The superstar big man did grab 10 rebounds in 35 minutes, and he also added five blocked shots and three assists. However, Williamson was able to evade him enough to score 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
Taurean Prince: B
Prince helped the Lakers’ cause by continuing to throw in darts from the outside. He shot 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and scored 15 points, to go along with four assists, two steals and two blocked shots in 34 minutes.
However, defensively he didn’t do much to slow down Brandon Ingram. The former Laker shot 10-of-18 and scored 26 points while dishing off eight assists.
After shooting just 29.3% from downtown in November, Prince ended December at 46.4% from that distance. Overall, he has made 40.1% of such attempts on the season, which puts him on pace to achieve his goal of shooting 40% from deep this season.
Rui Hachimura: Incomplete
Hachimura moved into the starting lineup in place of Cam Reddish, who was ruled out due to a sore groin. He made his first field goal attempt, but he left after eight minutes due to a strained calf and didn’t return.
Jarred Vanderbilt: D-plus/C-minus
In 21 minutes, Vanderbilt made very little of an impact. He scored four points, got two rebounds and came up with one steal, and the Lakers could’ve used a lot more energy and intensity from him in a game like this one.
LeBron James: A
One day after his 39th birthday, James tried to keep the Lakers in this game. He shot 12-of-24, including 3-of-7 from downtown, giving him 34 points. He also contributed eight assists, five rebounds and one blocked shot, although he also had four turnovers.
With his team trailing by 15 at the start of the fourth quarter, head coach Darvin Ham decided to reinsert James into the game. James played almost the entire fourth quarter and was on the court for 37 minutes altogether. The team needs to get his minutes down, especially now that it will have plenty of home games between the first week of January and late March.
Austin Reaves: A-minus
Reaves looked like he wanted to will the Lakers back into the game during the third quarter, but he got little help, especially with Davis forced to the bench due to foul trouble. He scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and dealt out nine assists in 36 minutes, and those 36 minutes were the most he has had in a game since Nov. 6.
Max Christie: C-plus
Christie shot just 3-of-11 overall and 1-of-6 from 3-point land in 29 minutes. But he did show decent energy and effort, and that effort and energy allowed him to grab seven rebounds and come up with two steals.
If he is to develop into the viable rotation player the Lakers have envisioned him becoming, he will have to start consistently knocking down outside shots. But his effort and energy will at least keep him in the NBA for quite some time.
Christian Wood: C-plus
In 25 minutes, Wood didn’t help L.A. much offensively, as he shot 1-of-4 and scored only three points. But he did contribute five rebounds and a blocked shot, and perhaps he is clawing his way back into Ham’s rotation, which would be a positive development for a Lakers team that badly needs more functional depth, especially in the frontcourt.
Jaxson Hayes: C
Hayes continues to make very little impact. He managed only two rebounds, attempted only one shot and went scoreless in 10 minutes.
Jalen Hood-Schifino: Incomplete
Hood-Schifino came into the game late in the third quarter. He made his only shot attempt and added one steal in five minutes of action.
