The hope, of course, would be that the time back in Los Angeles would do the Lakers some good. Their coach implored his team that the excuses of the past month — so many of which were valid — needed to end. That the team had to play “consciously competitive consistently” — an alliterative mouthful that Darvin Ham later edited down.
“Flat-out playing hard,” he said pregame Wednesday.
With the Lakers starting their January at home, where they’ll be basically for the entire month, effort wasn’t an issue.
But execution?
They got so little of that right.
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Lakers forward LeBron James drives to the hoop and takes a shot over Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Read more: Jaime Jaquez Jr., the steal of the 2023 NBA draft, heats up during his rookie season
The Lakers turned the ball over 22 times and made only four-of-30 three-point shots, losing 110–96 to Miami to drop their ninth game in their last 12.
It’s the first time this team has been below .500 since Nov. 10.
They’re the first team this season to shoot worse than 15 percent from three and turn it over 20 or more times.
That Anthony Davis continued his tear — Wednesday scoring 29 points to go with 17 rebounds, six assists, five blocks and three steals — mattered little.
The Lakers were largely a sloppy mess in their first of 11 games in Los Angeles between now and Jan. 27, coughing up the ball crippling amounts while letting the short-handed Heat play in front on a night when they weren’t close to their sharpest.
The Lakers, despite their carelessness, were within two early in the fourth quarter before getting completely bulldozed though the final horn.
Throughout the game, the Lakers’ body language reflected a team in the middle of a horrible slump. LeBron James simply looking to the bench and shrugging after a wasted possession against the Heat’s zone ended with a forced three that he missed.
James declined to speak postgame.
Read more: LeBron James slams controversial call after Lakers loss: ‘It’s obvious it’s a three’
“The unforced turnovers are the ones that really hurt you,” Ham said after. “… And it’s human nature for you to get down and disappointed when those unfortunate things happen. But at the end of the day, it’s NBA basketball. It’s extremely hard to win in this league. You have to really pour all of yourself into each and every possession or as many as possible. And we’ll figure it out. There’s a lot of time left — but the time is precious. We have to get to it [and] figure it out.”