Playing without Anthony Davis, the Lakers were defeated by the Mavericks by a score of 123-115. There is a time and a place for it.
L.A.'s fourth straight loss without Anthony Davis came after the Mavericks blew the game open in the third quarter.
Since Davis went down with a stress injury in his foot, Darvin Ham has continued to start the 6-1 Patrick Beverly and 6-1 Dennis Schroder in the backcourt. The lineup was played with the 6-3 Russell Westbrook at center.
He was asked about the challenge of making up for Davis with the rest of the roster after the loss.
"You throw everything up against the wall and look at what sticks", said Ham. It is a type of situation. Not in the lineup. We won't use that as an excuse. It is a huge hole in our lineup. We are now pros. We have to rise up.
James offered a stark assessment of the Lakers' options without Davis.
Without AD, we lose a lot of length, which we don't have already. Without AD it is very difficult to make up. Austin Reaves was the tallest guy on the court at one point.
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.
Since Davis went out, Ham has maintained a public-facing confidence, repeating after every loss that every player and coach just has to do a little more to get L.A. back on track.
It has been the same as when L.A. began the season 2-10) and won eight of its next 10 from there.
The glass half empty outlook to L.A.'s current predicament was offered by James, who was blunt about the team's roster construction.
When asked if the Lakers' proven ability to bounce back gave him belief in their ability to right the ship, James said he looked at it that way. How many times will you dig yourselves out until it's too much dirt on you?
It's possible that a move by the Lakers' front office could help with the effort of righting the ship without Davis.
Rob Pelinka acknowledged at the team's annual media day in September that finding trades to improve the team was his responsibility.
Pelinka said they will upgrade their roster if they have to. The trade deadline is for that.
James' Hall of Fame-bound career was spoiled by the loss in which Dallas scored 51 points. He broke a tie with Kobe Bryant for the most Christmas Day games in NBA history.
James said he loves playing the game of basketball. I enjoy playing in front of fans at home or on the road. I'm controlling what I can. I try to lead these guys and lead to victories and there have been times when it has been frustrating. Sometimes I have been happy. Sometimes I've said, "OK, we can do better here." I try not to get too carried away.
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