The Lakers won the top seed in the Western Conference but the team's bubble campaign in Orlando appeared headed on the skid. The team only scored two close wins and then bowed down against Toronto, OKC, and Houston. There was something amiss and LeBron James seemed to confirm the fact.
It might be that the roster is plagued by injury issues, which prevent the Lakers from giving their 100% but the King himself sent out the word that all is not well.
The offense is problematic and pundits agreed. Los Angeles has been putting up a good defense in the bubble city but the team also failed to display the firepower needed to win games. According to NBC Sports, citing the information shared by Joe Vardon of The Athletic, James confirmed that his squad's scoring is off.
"It's just some things that you can't control that's here, that I really don't want to talk about, that's off the floor," the Lakers superstar was reported as saying.
What exactly the off-court is a subject that James refused to talk about. However, if the recent showings by the Lakers are anything to go by, it was hard to deny that James is growing frustrated with the trouble that the team is digging into.
The star himself is struggling with his scoring on the floor. These can be seen during the losses versus the Thunder and the Raptors. James was not scoring in the level he wanted to, and he seemed helpless about the situation, according to Fadeaway World.
Cohesion is unlikely the problem as James and his crew have already proven that they can work smoothly, and more so when bubble setup allows the team to stay for a longer time.
A possible glitch could be the loss of key players like Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo but was theoretically resolved with the hiring of J.R. Smith and Dion Walters. It could be that the last-minute changes rocked the boat a bit for the Lakers and stability is yet to be regained.
However, it seemed obvious that there are weaknesses on the side of Los Angeles and one is the team's shooting from the three-point territory. From beyond the arc, the Lakers are lacking in attempts and more importantly, in accuracy, CBS Sports reported.
It's easy to see as well that the Lakers are overly reliant on the tandem of James and Anthony Davis. Such glaring truth was evidenced by the AD's impressive scoring in the two bubble games that his squad won.
On the other hand, James struggled during the clashes with Toronto and Oklahoma, and was forced to skip the game versus Houston. In all these games, the Lakers suffered defeats.
It's still a long way to go in Florida for the Lakers and it is only hoped that the issues James had hinted will see a resolution soon.
