As LaMelo Ball sat by his locker, he broke out into a dance, undulating his arms and shimmying his shoulders while smiling.
He had just scored 27 of his 30 points in the second half, leading the Hornets to a 135–117 win over the Lakers Thursday, including making nine 3-pointers.
For the Lakers, it was their fourth loss in five games, with two of those losses coming this week against opponents that are near the cellar of their respective conferences, including the 12th-place Hornets and the 14th-place Kings on Monday.
It drove home one big point: The Lakers need help.
Luka Dončić had 39 points, four assists and three rebounds. LeBron James had 29 points, nine rebounds and six assists. But that wasn’t enough.
No other Laker scored 20 points. And no Laker could stop the Hornets’ shooting barrage which, in addition to Ball, also included the shining Brandon Miller (26 points) and Miles Bridges (25 points).
The Lakers need better perimeter defense and they need scoring help, especially with Austin Reaves sidelined because of a calf strain.
Even though the Lakers have tied their worst skid of the year with their latest speed bump, Lakers coach JJ Redick remained positive.
“I thought we fought,” Redick said. “Just another team that has a hot shooting night.”
Redick was similarly relatively optimistic after the Lakers’ ugly 124–112 loss to the Kings Monday, in which they were outshot from the 3-point line, 65.4 percent to 22.2 percent, respectively.
“We can’t make a shot,” he said, before pointing out that over the previous seven games the Lakers were “one of the best defenses in the league.”
It was a stark contrast from the way he responded to the Lakers’ three-game losing skid three weeks ago, which culminated in a 119–96 loss to Houston on Christmas. A fuming Redick laid into his team after that contest, saying, “We don’t care enough to be professional” and “I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”
So, either Redick believes the care factor is there in the Lakers’ latest skid, or he’s showing more restraint, both of which may be true.
On Thursday, the Lakers led by as much as 13 points before a dreadful second quarter in which they were outscored, 34–16. The Lakers fought to cut their deficit to as small as six points in the fourth quarter, but Ball exploded for a series of 3-pointers, making four of his five shots from that distance in the period.
It’s no secret that the Lakers are going to get the other teams’ best effort every night, and right now it’s greatly exposing their weaknesses, which is something to monitor closely as the Feb. 5 trade deadline creeps closer.
As for the Hornets, it was clear this was a game they had circled on their calendar.
“These guys grew up watching LeBron James play,” Redick said. “The Lakers, like the Celtics, are arguably the most storied franchise in all of sports. We’ve mentioned it as a team. I think all the guys know we don’t get a lot of off nights from other teams in terms of energy and being up and all that stuff.”
