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The Los Angeles Lakers were drubbed by the Sacramento Kings in a 116-92 loss where the team completely collapsed in the second half.
It wasn’t the Lakers’ first loss of the season. The team has taken an L in 17 of their 27 games this year, including losing seven-straight following their defeat on Monday night.
It was, however, the first time the team quit. At least according to their head coach, Luke Walton.
“I felt like for the first time this season we kind of gave in, we gave up, which is disheartening because our group has been very resilient all year long,” said Walton (via Serena Winters), who was ejected in the first quarter for not giving up on arguing a call with the game’s officiating crew.
“We take pride in that, take pride in competing and doing it together,” Walton continued. “I felt like the third quarter when they were making shots, we kind of just gave in, and we never really as a team got it back.”
Looking at the box score and watching the game, it’s hard to argue with Walton’s assessment. The Lakers were outscored an astounding 39-13 in the third quarter and were never able to get going following halftime.
Nick Young had a different theory on what went wrong.
"They got a lot more calls. Say thanks to Aaron Smith." - Nick Young just said on TWC...Aaron Smith was one of the officials tonight.
— Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) December 13, 2016
(Contd) - "I think they it just a new ref out there. I think we need to crack down, talk to the league." - Nick Young on why so chippy.
— Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) December 13, 2016
The Lakers were whistled for 16 fouls compared to 20 for the Kings, so Young’s explanation doesn’t completely hold up even if it’s understandable that the team was upset after such a big loss.
When the Lakers can recover is the other big question right now. The Lakers’ next have road dates against the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets, but if the team fails to grab those two their next game against the Cleveland Cavaliers could be rough.
A road loss on the second night of a back-to-back isn’t totally unforgivable, but the fall back to earth after the Lakers’ shocking start was always going to be rough. The next few weeks will be important to see how resilient the team is, or if they quit.
Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.