Without LeBron James or Anthony Davis, the Lakers are already in shambles
Well, that escalated quickly.
The Los Angeles Lakers have taken the floor twice since LeBron James suffered a high right ankle sprain against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
While they were already without Anthony Davis — and have been without him for the past 16 games due to an Achilles injury — losing James exacerbated the Lakers' suddenly unfruitful fortunes.
L.A. lost that game against Atlanta and is 7-9 without Davis in the past 16. The Lakers are 11-10 without Davis on the season.
The past two games in particular, without either of their superstars, have caused red flags to wave.
The Lakers never led in a 111-94 blowout loss at Phoenix on Sunday, and on Tuesday, they never led after the first quarter in a 128-111 blowout loss at New Orleans, a game in which L.A. trailed by as many as 30 in the third quarter and 29 in the fourth.
Having lost three in a row, the Lakers are now fourth in the Western Conference as of Wednesday, four games behind first-place Utah, two games behind second-place Phoenix and tied with the LA Clippers, who own the tiebreaker over their in-city rivals.
And the sledding is about to get even tougher for the defending champions in the upcoming weeks.
On Thursday, L.A. will host the Philadelphia 76ers, owners of the best record in the Eastern Conference. Then, after presumably winnable games against Cleveland and Orlando at home, the Lakers will host Milwaukee before taking off on a seven-game road trip that features matchups with the Clippers, Heat, Nets, Knicks and Hornets, all current playoff teams.
When the Lakers return home on April 15, they will host Boston, another playoff team, before hosting the Jazz on April 17 and 19.
On Wednesday's edition of "First Things First," Nick Wright said seven games on the Lakers' upcoming schedule will be key as they try to stay afloat without "The King" or "The Brow."
However, former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker cared less about the schedule, suggesting that there isn't much that can stand in the way of the Lakers' imminent decline.
"If you look at these last three games, they haven't had a guy really that can create plays and get shots for other guys, so they really struggle offensively. ... Now you get teams like Cleveland, Sacramento, Orlando ... those three teams are looking at the Lakers believing they can get a win now. So these games become much harder.
"Too many guys on the Lakers are not playing well."
The Lakers' production has certainly been scattered, especially in the previous two games.
Against the Suns, L.A. was outrebounded 51-41 and out-assisted 30-20. Against the Pelicans, the Lakers were outrebounded 53-34 and out-assisted 28-25, even though New Orleans was playing without starting point guard Lonzo Ball.
Kyle Kuzma has put up 14.5 points per game the past two but has made only 11 of 30 shots (36.7%) in that time. Dennis Schroder is averaging 18.5 points the past two, but similarly to Kuzma, he is shooting a low percentage from the field, connecting on just 10 of 24 shot attempts (41.2%) against Phoenix and New Orleans.
Veteran forward Markieff Morris scored two against the Suns and 16 against the Pelicans. Reserve guard Talen Horton-Tucker scored 17 at Phoenix and five at New Orleans. Starting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has scored a combined 10 points in the previous two games.
Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell is putting up 20.5 points and 8.0 rebounds the past two games, but he's a combined -25 when on the floor. Alex Caruso is a -19.
Seeing a trend here?
James is set to be out indefinitely. There's a chance that Davis could return in the coming weeks, but what's for certain is that the Lakers will be without their two superstars for the coming stretch of games.
And even if Davis comes back sooner rather than later, chances are his minutes will be limited as he works his way back into playing shape.
You know what they say: Defending a title is harder than winning one.
The Lakers are indeed learning that the hard way.