It was the second time in just 35 days that the Lakers fell to the marginal team, only this time it was by double digits. It also evened out the Lakers record since Thanksgiving Day to a disturbing 9-9. It gets more disturbing when you look at some of the details.
Over that time frame their opponents average winning percentage is .468, yet the Lakers have only outscored them by a little over half a point, with a .55 margin. They have topped the 100 point barrier in those 18 games only six times. Those aren't very good numbers, but when you filter out the weakest opponents it gets even grimmer.
Since then the Lakers have two losing streaks of three games or more. They only have one win against a team over .500 and in fact, only two against opponents over .400. In fact if you look at the splits against teams over .400 in that stretch, it's appalling.
In 11 games against those teams, the Lakers have only won twice. They have been outscored by double digits four times, but only have one double digit victory themselves.They are getting blown out far more than they are doing the blowing out.
They have been held below 90 points on five occasions, but only have topped the century mark twice. Their opponents have been held below 90 only two times, while eclipsing 100 on three occasions.And this against teams that are over .400 not .500.
In fact the six games they've played with records between .400 and .500 they are only 1-5, and have been outscored by 6.33 points. It's only the weakest teams the Lakers have been beating for the last quarter of a season.
And that's where it becomes a concern, this isn't a patch. It's not a losing streak, it's a trend. And it's one that is going to need to be remedied sooner, not later. In spite of what some have tried to suggest the regular season does matter.
