The Los Angeles Lakers lost 109-80 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday and 134-93 against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. This means Los Angeles has been outscored by 70 points over their last 2 games. That’s the worst point differential over any two-game stretch in franchise history.
2024-25 Lakers surpassed the 2016-17 team for the worst point differential over any two-game stretch in franchise history
The 2016-17 Lakers set the previous franchise mark in back-to-back games in November 2016 and March 2017, when they were outscored by 67 points during both two-game stretches. That squad went on to finish 26-56 (.317) and 14th in the Western Conference that season.
As for the 2024-25 Lakers, the team was 10-4 just two weeks ago and is now in a slump, losing six of their past eight games by an average of 21.8 points. During this stretch, Los Angeles lost three straight against the Orlando Magic (by one point), Denver Nuggets (by 25 points), and Phoenix Suns (by 27 points).
The Lakers have been outscored by 70 points over their last 2 games—that's the worst point differential over ANY 2-game stretch in franchise history. 📉
🔗 https://t.co/mGbLl1z2Kg pic.twitter.com/Gq6QsRUYPH
— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) December 5, 2024
“We’re having trouble right now on both ends with, like, base-level game-plan stuff,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said following Wednesday’s loss. “It’s odd. It’s very odd.”
LeBron James managed to bounce back from a shooting slump to score 29 points on 12-for-18 shooting, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range to break a streak of 20 straight missed 3s.
However, the soon-to-be 40-year-old is still not playing his best basketball.
Heat tied a franchise record for 3s in a regular-season game
The last time James had such a streak exceeding six games was his rookie 2003-04 season, when he had streaks of eight and 12 games of shooting below 50%.
His 3-pointer with 8:55 left in the third quarter was the 2,451st of his career, breaking a tie with Kyle Korver for No. 7 on the all-time list.
Against Miami on Wednesday night, the Lakers were outrebounded 52-36, and the Heat tied a franchise record for 3s in a regular-season game by going 24-for-47 (51.1%), including 9-for-16 from Tyler Herro, who finished with a team-high 31 points.
Additionally, Herro had seven 3-pointers in the third quarter, tying the Heat record for any quarter. In fact, Duncan Robinson hit seven in a second quarter against Cleveland on Nov. 20, 2019.
Lakers coach JJ Redick says team is not together right now
Meanwhile, the Lakers shot 37-of-88 (42%) from the floor and went 5-for-22 (22.7%) from beyond the arc. Miami led by as many as 43 points, outscoring Los Angeles 69-52 in the first half and 65-41 in the second.
“Has to be some ownership,” Redick said. “You can splinter, and it’s easy to not want the ownership, particularly when it’s embarrassing. I’m embarrassed. We’re all embarrassed. It’s not a game that I thought we had the right fight, the right professionalism.”
Redick added: “There has to be some ownership on the court, and I’ll take all the ownership in the world. This is my team, and I lead it, and I’m embarrassed. But I can’t physically get us organized. I can’t physically be into the basketball. I can’t physically talk and call out [switches] and physically call out coverages. … And by the way, I’m not blaming players. It’s not. I own this but going to need some ownership on the court as well. … There’s not a sense from me that we’re together right now.”
The Lakers close their four-game trip Friday in Atlanta.
