James hopes Lakers can build on win
LOS ANGELES » Relief was felt. Joy was shared.
With a 106-103 victory over the Clippers to end their four-game losing streak, the Lakers experienced something rare over the last few weeks: a celebratory locker room rather than one dealing with the anguish of defeat.
But the joy and relief came cautiously.
It was just the Lakers' fourth win in the 14 games since they defeated the Indiana Pacers to win the InSeason Tournament title on Dec. 9 — and the first victory of this ongoing five-game homestand. They're still under .500, with an 18-19 regular-season record.
Just like they tried not to get too low after their recent losses, they also tried not to get too high after Sunday's victory, even with it being over their Crypto.com Arena co-tenant.
“It doesn't fix everything, obviously, but it helps,” LeBron James said. “But we gotta still learn from the wins more than we learn from losses. Because when you lose, you're able to look
his own. Max Christie came off the bench to provide defense, as did Jarred Vanderbilt.
“It takes the others to win championships, to win basketball games,” Anthony Davis said. “Those guys played phenomenal tonight. And when those guys are playing well, it just makes me and Bron's job a lot easier. Obviously, we have ultimate trust in those guys to throw `em the basketball and to make shots and take big shots.”
But LeBron James noted another truism of sports: The best time to reinforce the habits necessary to win just might be after winning.
“It (the win) still don't take away from the fact (of) how we've been playing for the last 11-12 games,” he said.
“It doesn't fix everything, obviously, but it at like, `OK, this is why we lost, we have to do this better. We have to do this.' And then when you win, the first human instinct to do is, `Ah, we won. OK.'
“But, no. We have to learn from the mistakes we had (Sunday), which we had too many still. So we have to learn from this.”
Even with the victory coming against one of the top teams in the Western Conference, there were plenty of areas where the Lakers could have performed better: defensive rebounding and ball security being among them.
There's also an awareness
helps ... We gotta steal more from the wins than we do from the losses. You lose, you're like, `Look at it, this is why we lost, OK? We got to do this better.' And you win, the first human instinct is to go, `We won.' But no, we have to learn from the mistakes we had tonight, which we had all too many still.”
But these Lakers seemed more resilient than they'd been in a while, better at shaking off the last play and moving on to the next one rather than letting things snowball. That they did so against a team that had won five in a row and was 14-2 since the start of December was impressive in and of itself.
Ham was asked in his pre-game session if he felt like he was coaching for his job, and responded that while it comes with that picking up a key victory in one game doesn't mean success will come in immediate future games.
Their Dec. 13 road win against the San Antonio Spurs was followed by a four-game losing streak. Their Dec. 23 victory over the Thunder in Oklahoma City to end that losing streak came before an 11-point loss to the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day.
“We can't be comfortable, we can't be too comfortable,” coach Darvin Ham said. “We still got a lot of work to do. This was a huge, huge win against an elite ballclub. But
the coaching territory, “in no way, shape or form do I feel that way.”
Clippers coach Ty Lue noted that some of the same stuff they're saying about his counterpart was also being heard last year around this time, when the Lakers were trying to dig out from that 2-10 start.
“And they went to the conference finals. And so are you giving the coach all the credit for that?” he asked. “I don't think so. And I think D-Ham did a hell of a job last year, and the same thing this year.
“People think about Xs and Os, but it's more than just Xs and Os in the NBA. Being a coach, it's a lot to do with handling different personalities, different egos. It's a lot that goes into it. And so the biggest thing, for me and D-Ham, is just keep doing what you believe in. it shows us what we can do once band together and everyone just really focuses in on the job they have to do individually and collectively. All of us, players, coaches, performance team, everybody.
“This is something I hope will continue to spill on to the next several games all the way until the end of the season, this type of performance. Win or lose, you can live with yourself with these types of performances and the way we competed end to end, the resilience. Got real noisy, but take a little deep breath.”
Two-way signing
Free agent Skylar Mays reportedly agreed to a twoway contract with the Lakers, Mays' agent told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Mays, a 6-foot-3 guard who was a second-round pick out of LSU for the Atlanta Hawks in 2020, has played for the Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers, averaging 4.9 points and two assists in 88 games.
He had a 15-point, 12-assist double-double and 15 points and eight assists in the two games he played against the Lakers earlier this season.
And what he did last year was huge ... that says a lot about what he can do as a coach.”
The NBA schedule, of course, stops for no team, and the afterglow of winning one only lasts until the next game, which in this case is Tuesday night against Toronto. But this one, at least, allows the Lakers to catch their collective breath.
“Oh, definitely, but we can't be comfortable,” Ham said. “We still got a lot of work to do, but this is a huge, huge win, against an elite ballclub. It shows us what we can do once we band together and everyone just really focuses in on the job they have to do individually and collectively.”
Maybe Laker fans will relax, too. At least for a day.
jalexander@scng.com