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James Worthy has blasted the LA Lakers for their shock 107-105 loss against the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
Worthy has been very critical of the Lakers' performances this season. He was once again left disappointed as the Purple and Gold were beaten by the Blazers. Having won three championships and played 12 seasons with the Lakers, Worthy believes this is the lowest the team has plummeted to in a while.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis were both dejected after the loss against a Portland team that was without Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Worthy, who appeared on Access SportsNet, blasted the Lakers for their performance against the Blazers, saying:
"This is the lowest point of just about any season I've seen as a Laker over the years. I don't have any words for it, because we've used all our words."
"We saw Milwaukee come in and we thought, okay, that would be a measuring game against a good team and we saw what happened and then against Portland, a team of professional players, but it was almost like they were playing against local YMC pick-up group of guys."
Worthy blasted the team for their mentality and effort on the night, pointing out how the team gave up points in the paint and fast breaks. He suspects a major problem in the team, adding:
" I think it just goes to show you how deeply, mentally disconnected and the inability to fire your brain up for a game that you know you should win or for any game that matter, shows that there is a really tough virus going on with this team right now that I don't know what the medicine is, but this was really bad to get outplayed."
"To have Portland have more points in the paint, more fastbreak points, all the categories like effort stuff lets me know that this team has a serious problem; I don't know what they gonna do to get out of it, but tonight's game really denotes like a really bad thing with this team right now; I dont know what it is."
LA Lakers squander half-time lead against shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers
The LA Lakers came into this game after a disappointing loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Many expected them to respond strongly against the Blazers, but things didn't go as planned.
In the first quarter itself, the Blazers showcased tough defense. They scored 18 points themselves, and contained LeBron James and co. to 18. The Lakers then took control of the game, scoring 36 second-quarter points to take a seven-point lead into half-time.
The game got interesting from there, with Anfernee Simons unleashing his magic. The youngster scored 29 points to lead the Trail Blazers from the front. He made vital buckets to help his team stay in the game.
Both teams were neck and neck in the fourth, but the LA Lakers had a lot of turnovers in the penultimate quarter, which proved too costly for them.
Eventually, the Trail Blazers registered their 22nd win of the season. The LA Lakers next face the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Currently 26-30 on the season, the ninth seeds in the West have won only once in their last four games. They will hope to put in a better performance on the road to return to winning ways.
