Lakers Week In Review: Losses, Missed Shots Pile Up For Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Lakers simply had a brutal week. They lost three of their four games, including getting badly outclassed in two road games in Florida, and their only win came in a game that they threatened to score the fewest points in a regulation game since the shot clock in franchise history.

The offense was a mess last week for the Lakers, who averaged all of 84 points per game in their four games. The Lakers have scored under 100 points in 11 straight contests and have been held under the century mark in 17 of 18 games this season. The team is averaging just 101.8 points per 100 possessions on the season, 18th in the 30-team NBA.

Derek Fisher helped the Lakers to their only win of the week in Monday's sloppy game at Staples Center. The Lakers scored all of seven points in the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks, but came from behind in the final period thanks in part to nine points and two key steals from Fisher, including the tie-breaking three-pointer from Fisher in the final seconds. The regular season franchise record low in points for the Lakers in the shot clock era is 70, and the Lakers managed to win with 73 points against Dallas. It was one of just four wins by the Lakers in the last 25 years when scoring under 80 points.

Thursday and Friday provided two opportunities for the Lakers to get dominated by a superstar in Florida. The Miami Heat were without Dwyane Wade on Thursday, but LeBron James picked up all the slack and then some, killing the Lakers with 31 points, eight boards, eight assists, four steals, and three blocks. LeBron was The King in a game the Lakers trailed by as many as 23 points.

On Friday, Dwight Howard scored 21 and grabbed 23 rebounds, his fifth 20-rebound game of the season, while the Lakers' offense was a no-show, with 10 points in the first quarter and 31 points at halftime. That loss dropped the Lakers to 1-6 on the road this season.

The Lakers took their nine-game home winning streak into Sunday night's game at Staples Center against the Indiana Pacers, and looked like a new team with a 27-14 first quarter. But the Lakers eventually let the big lead melt away, and the Pacers went home with a two-point victory, while the Lakers scored just 18 points in the fourth quarter.

The loss to the Pacers was bound to happen soon enough, as the long home win streak was littered with close wins against mediocre teams that could have gone either way in the fourth quarter. At the end of the week, the Lakers are now just 10-8, good for 10th place in the Western Conference, despite a home-heavy schedule. There is plenty of doubt about the Lakers, and there will need to be plenty of improvement on offense if this team is going anywhere.

Here are some individual numbers for the week:

• Kobe Bryant: 25.3 points per game, 6.5 assists per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, 48.9% true shooting percentage
• Andrew Bynum: 14.5 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 56.3% TS%.
  
• Pau Gasol: 13.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 46.7% TS%, five three-point attempts, season-high 10 assists against Indiana.
  
• Matt Barnes: Despite just under 24 minutes per game and 26.1% shooting from the field (six for 23), Barnes was second on the team with 22 free throw attemps. Barnes shot 77.3% from the charity stripe (17 for 22) on the week.
  
• Derek Fisher: Had nine assists and eight steals for the week, against just two turnovers
• Metta World Peace: Made three of eight attempts from three-point range (37.5%), and five for 18 from two-point range (27.8%)
  

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