The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a massive blowout loss at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night, falling 138-94 behind a pair of 30-point games from Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. LeBron James led the way for the Lakers with 18 points in 30 minutes of action.
It was a historic night for all the wrong reasons, as it was the worst loss of James’ career and one of the worst losses in Lakers franchise history. And while one game certainly does not define a team’s ceiling in the NBA, losing like this can cause some reflection regardless of opponent.
The biggest stat that separated the 76ers from the Lakers on Monday was three-point shooting. The Lakers made seven of their 28 attempts while the 76ers made 22 of their 46 attempts. That’s a plus-45 difference for the 76ers in what was a 44-point victory.
James kept it simple when talking about the difference between the Lakers and 76ers in a hugely disappointing loss, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We went with our coverages. They made shots. Give them credit.”
James didn’t give much in terms of postgame answers. He was visibly frustrated when talking about what the Lakers might need to change in order to avoid losses like this in the future:
“A lot. Yeah, a lot.”
LeBron was not willing to speak for the team, but he was not happy being blown out in that fashion:
“I don’t know how a team (reacts). I can only speak for myself – I don’t like it.”
James is usually willing to go into detail about what went wrong for the Lakers in a loss. But this one comes with particular frustration due to the 44-point nature of the defeat. No one singular fix can prevent a loss like this from happening again, but the Lakers are certainly a good enough team to not have this type of loss again this season.
If the Lakers do make any drastic changes to their rotation or style of play, it seems this game would be the springboard.
Cam Reddish extremely close to returning
Cam Reddish has been one of the bright spots of the 2023-24 season for the Lakers as he has looked more the part of a former lottery pick. Defensively, he’s one of the best in the league at deflections and steals, while offensively, he’s flashed more as a slasher and outside shooter.
The Lakers have missed Reddish’s two-way presence on the floor, but it sounds like his return is right around the corner as Darvin Ham said he’s been working diligently to get back and he’s “extremely close” to making his return.
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