"They cannot close out games without LeBron James" - Nick Wright criticizes the LA Lakers' performance, calls them 'Carmelo Anthony-reliant'

The Los Angeles Lakers won a hard fought game last night, defeating the Charlotte Hornets 126-123 in overtime. However, there's been a reocurring theme with this Lakers team throughout the opening month of the 2021-22 NBA season. The Lakers continue to find themselves without superstar LeBron James, who has been sidelined with an abdominal injury. During the stretch without LeBron, the team continued to have problems with their inconsistent play. Recently, the Lakers have gotten into problems when it comes to putting their feet down and closing out games.

After blowing a 19-point lead that resulted in an eventual loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder recently, the Lakers found themselves with a 14-point lead against the Charlotte Hornets last night. The Hornets would go on to crawl back into the game, forcing overtime against the Lakers before just missing out on completing the comeback. Although the Lakers went on to win the game, the media and fans are still unsettled with the teams' performance as of late. Analyst Nick Wright spoke today on First Things First about how the Lakers need to figure out a way to close out games without LeBron James on the floor.

"They're far too Carmelo-Anthony-reliant and they cannot close out games with LeBron James...they gotta figure out how to close games without LeBron's hand on the joystick."

Wright brings up an interesting point during his segment as he talks about how the Los Angeles Lakers have been too reliant on Carmelo Anthony as of late. He's got a good point, as Anthony has been a bit of a "savior" for the Lakers as of late with his play. In his last games, Anthony is averaging 20.7 points per game while shooting 55.0% from the field and 57.8% from 3. During that stretch of games, the Lakers have gone on to win four of their last six games.

A Tough Stretch Ahead

Los Angeles Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony has been impressive as of late

This Los Angeles Lakers team continues to be the center of discussion in the NBA world when it comes to media and fans. For a team that was considered a potential favorite in the Western Conference at the start of the season, it's been a bit of a nightmare start for the Lakers. With LeBron James' status still up in the air, the Lakers are going to need to find their groove in a hurry and try to string together a couple of wins to keep themselves near the top of the standings. As of now, the Lakers find themselves with a 6-5 record this year. The team is preparing for a challenging stretch of games, including matchups against the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. The Lakers will welcome the Miami Heat tomorrow, who have been one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA this season.

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