LeBron James felt very disappointed during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-114 loss to the Toronto Raptors. After another smack, the “Lakers” mostly presented themselves with a loss.
Already in the second quarter, LeBron had had enough of his team’s game. After the Raptors’ offensive rebound, he drove the ball to the floor several times and hit his teammates. He later took out his anger on Stanley Johnson after he made a deflected pass.
The 37-year-old’s frustration was somewhat understandable as the Lakers got off to a disastrous start and lost 12:33 of the first quarter. At the same time, the gap was 28 points, only in the last part LA could use cosmetic results. A late comeback attempt made no difference in their eighth loss in their last ten games.
LeBron then left the arena without speaking to the media. Carmelo Anthony, among others, answered the journalists’ questions. His conclusion. “If you take away the first quarter, we’re going to win the game. We can’t dig ourselves into holes like that.”
That was already a problem for the Purple and Gold yesterday when they lost in the first round 22:48 in Phoenix. When asked why, even Russell Westbrook was defeated. “I’m not sure, I don’t have an answer for you.” Westbrook’s press conference lasted only one and a half minutes.
Los Angeles Lakers. Outbound trip in front of chest
Melo offered a solution that the Lakers would have to “want more” to get off to a better start. Head coach Frank Vogel also cited the Raptors’ defense as one of the reasons for the early possessions, turnovers and numerous misses.
So LeBron had to put his team back on his back in the final stretch to make the game exciting again. Despite their 30 points, LA got no closer than 9 points. The king was on the floor for 40:20 minutes, although a rest break was discussed before the game.
LeBron’s high minutes workload is “always a concern,” Vogel said. But multiple layups against the Raptors gave his superstar time and time again, so Vogel didn’t feel like he was putting too much pressure on LeBron. The Lakers depend on James anyway, and he’s scored at least 50 points in both of their wins since the All-Star break. Los Angeles now has an away trip to Minnesota, Toronto, Washington and Cleveland.