The Los Angeles Lakers are in a tricky spot a little less than halfway through the 2024-25 season. LeBron James and company sit at 20-15, atop the Pacific Division, at the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference and within striking distance of the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets. They have also won seven of their last 10 and are hopeful to get some players back in the lineup soon.
By all of those measures, the Lakers season has been a success. However, the Lakers are one of two teams in the entire league to have a winning record but a negative point differential (Indiana Pacers) and rank 19th in the league in net rating, surrounded by mainly middling teams.
LeBron knows all of these facts, and knows that the Lakers need to come up with some changes to make up for the difference between their current record and their statistical performance. And for James, that may come down to a toughness factor that the team does not currently seem to have, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I want to be a great team. But it takes some things that maybe get uncomfortable out there that we gotta do a little bit more of. Do a little bit more, be a little bit more gritty, make more plays, not have so many breakdowns. We’re not much of a breakdown team but sometimes we don’t have a lot of room for error as well. I think the start of the fourth showed that. We started the fourth down two, next thing you know it was a 10-point game. You give up offensive rebounds, we gave up two offensive rebounds, one putback by Steven Adams, another one was by the Thompson twin kicked out to Aaron Holiday and he hits a 3. Then Cam Whitmore hits a stepback jumper from the right corner by our bench and it’s like boom. Now it’s a 10-point game… We gotta just be a lot better.”
The Lakers may not be a breakdown team in the way that LeBron described, but they have had a tendency to look lifeless for long stretches and even full games. The Rockets loss on Sunday night came down to a lack of effort in chunks of the game, when the Lakers could have pulled within one game of the No. 2 seed.
So for the Lakers to see their numbers start matching their record, they might need to get a little uncomfortable, as James says, and play with more intensity and fight.
LeBron James applauds athleticism of Thompson twins
The Rockets are currently second in the Western Conference as their young talent has really grown together and developed in a big way under coach Ime Udoka. The Lakers witnessed that up close on Sunday as Jalen Green scored 33 points, but it could be argued that second-year forward Amen Thompson was the real difference maker.
Thompson finished with 23 points and a game-high 16 rebounds with six of those coming on the offensive end. The offensive glass was arguably the biggest factor in the Rockets defeating the Lakers and Thompson crushed them on that front.
His efforts stood out to Lakers star LeBron James, who spoke about both Thompson and his brother Ausar, who plays for the Detroit Pistons. James noted their athleticism and love for the game as being special.
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