No lie Luka has been completely scapegoated for this teams defense.

They don’t have a single defender on this roster

The backloading of lakers schedule is gonna drop them into the play ins

It’s crazy watching every damn team in the league have a bunch of guys who jump high and run fast while this team has a bunch of plumbers. Nice job Rob.

I think that even if Luka/Ayton/Hayes played tonight, we might actually be the worst non-tanking team in the NBA right now. Like there are far too many players on this roster that wouldn’t even get a spot on the Pacers or the Wizards.

Feels like I’m punching down when talking about the lakers lately

Rob Pelinka is the Dalton Knecht of Joe Cronins.

Shout out to Gabe vincent 🤣

CALEB LOVE

its been great seeing Sidy develop in Portland.plus Caleb love has been impressing me as well. this blazers teams is fun to watch .

We need to start talking about Shaedon Sharpe

Lakers literally have no quality players outside of their top 5 and it’s been like this since 2022. They’ve missed on all their free agent signings/draft picks. Atrocious

Timme can’t win with these cats

One of the best parts of bad Lakers losses has to be how disappointed James Worthy looks in the post-game show.

The lakers have to be the worst roster in the league this season. So much talent concentrated up top and borderline unplayable players/ g leaguers at the bottom

I’m rooting so hard for Caleb Love to succeed and it’s been a pleasure to watch him in Portland.

Between this and the Seahawks game, it was a really good sports night.

Stealing 2 games in a blowout fashion without Deni is big for this team

Timme is pretty good, that one only positive thing I can say

Anyone who talks about Luka and Lebron being the problem don’t watch the games. Even opposing fans at this points are like, damn…the Lakers role players are cheeks lol

It’s official: Jrue Holiday + Jerami Grant = 1 Deni Avdija

Lakers defense is absolute 🗑 

Lebron was out there playing with bums 

Caleb Love

Trail Blazers always making me happy be it trades or beating the lakers.

Caleb Love been such a nice find in the 2nd round. Will probably always be a off the bench guy, but you really cant ask for much more out of a guy in the 2nd round. Anything more than that is gold

Gabe Vincent is a terrorist. Replace him with a G-league guy at this point

Blazers are locked in . I know no one will take us seriously but when healthy we are a top 6 team

The final score makes it look closer than it really was

We’re so fucking garbage

Drew Timme please let this be real we need value contracts

u/noturaveragesavage it would seem that your hate watch was successful, but at what price

Lakers game, another big FTA differential /s

Lakers could use a guy like Russell Westbrook

lebron got them to 47-50, and i swear in one minute it became 47-58, like bro

Luka is trash. Didn’t even do anything this game

Lebron is the olest player to lose by 16 points while…(fill in the blank)

LeFraud Jr 8 minutes and 0 points. ROFL. NBA player my ass.

Gave Vincent with a big bounce back game 3 points 1 assist

Huge

looks like we’re not the only ones in a rough patch…

lebron 🥀🥀🥀

Lakers are not competing an NBA Level on offense without our starters all playing together: Luka, Austin, LeBron and Ayton. And Smart or Rui, take your pick. I don’t care. We havent been a better defense with our defensive personnel out there. Those defenders are playing too much and are out of their depth. We need to lean into our offensive identity when those guys get back to the starting line up. All six of those guys gotta play starter minutes for the Lakers to have a shot.

Tiago deserves a lot of credit for the job he’s done and I hope that the incoming ownership group will be able to see that. The blazers’ record up to this point in the season is likely what most would have thought was the best case scenario when FULLY healthy. To have spent the vast majority of the season without any point guards, a limited number of competent ball handlers, poor floor spacing, a nagging calf injury to Sharpe he’s only recently overcome, an injury-decimated bench reliant on two way players, etc only to still be nearly .500 AND still have a non-bottom 5 offense is to be commended. Especially given the circumstances under which he had to take over as head coach.

Fuck this trash ass team, at least when we had Westbrook we were laughing at how messy the situation was.

Great win Dubs fathers. Way to beat the southern evil.

Clippers will finish with better record than lakers

Old man is ruining the lakers and just needs to hang it up already. The league has Wemby, ant, Shai, Jokic, Cade, and Flagg we don’t need this attention whore playing 0 defense and statpadding to look better than what he actually is

Maxi Kleber starting at Center in the big 2026, the Lakers are cooked 🫤

Will the Clippers catch Lakers is the real question?

Both the Suns and Warriors are a lot better and all the advanced stats indicate that and I would be shocked if they don’t both finish ahead of the Lakers.

You can’t win games if the other team is treating our paint like a public park.

Timme 20 piece

Lakers found much needed potential bench scoring in Timme. If Redick continue to refuse to give him minutes outside of garbage time and games where the starters and bench are injured, that’s a coaching problem.

Honestly the Lakers need to take a moment and really think about a 2-3 year re-tool span. Trade guys with any value even if it’s 2nd round picks or a failing young guy. Let Luka cook and see what you can do in say 3-4 years from now cause RN you are cooked with no defence and a LeBron basically on retirement.

The fact that nearly all of the Lakers’ losses this season have been blowouts or by 10 plus points and they have lost second straight in that manner is a reflection that they are the only Top 6 West team with a negative net rating (-0.8). The reason for that is while they have the 7th best offense in the league (117.9), they also have one of the worst defenses in the league (118.8). The Lakers’ net rating says they are a dangerous but inconsistent team. They have the “clutch” gene to win any single game, but they lack the statistical dominance typically required to be considered a true championship favorite. You can’t be a contender if you can play a good offense but bad defense. Offense wins games but defense wins championships.

Interestingly, the Lakers this season are setting some truly bizarre historical precedents:

1.) The “Star Power” Paradox

Statistically, the Lakers are better when LeBron James is on the bench.

• With LeBron: -0.7 Net Rating • Without LeBron: +0.1 Net Rating

This doesn’t mean LeBron is “bad,” but it highlights a massive structural issue. At 41, LeBron’s defensive mobility is a liability in transition. When he’s off the floor, the Lakers play a faster, more modern defensive style around Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, which actually steadies their performance.

2.) Chasing the 2001 Ghost

They can’t be contenders with this profile, and history almost entirely agrees. In the last 25 years, only one team has won a championship with a defensive rating outside the top 15: the 2001 Lakers (who ranked 22nd).

• The Difference: That 2001 team had prime Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, and they famously “flipped a switch,” going 15–1 in the playoffs.

• The 2026 Risk: Unlike that 2001 team, which had a positive net rating (+3.4), this team is currently negative (-0.8). No team in NBA history has ever won a title while being outscored by their opponents over the course of the regular season.

3.)The “Expected Wins” Reality Check

Advanced metrics like SRS (Simple Rating System), which accounts for point differential and strength of schedule, rank the Lakers 19th in the NBA.

• Based on their point differential, their “Expected Record” should be 19–20 instead of 24–15.

• They have effectively “stolen” 5 wins through pure late-game execution (mostly Luka and LeBron isos). While that works in January, it’s a terrifying way to live in a 7-game series against a disciplined team like the Thunder or Nuggets.

4.) Lower seeded teams with a better net rating:

• Suns (2.7) • Warriors (3.0)

Both the Suns and the Warriors have beaten the Lakers in each of their previous respective meetings this season.

Lakers experiment isn’t working