The Los Angeles Lakers suffered the biggest defeat in franchise history on Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers put up an "embarrassing" performance in the 49-point loss on the same day Kobe Bryant exploded for 81 points exactly 11 years ago.
Coming from a 12-point victory against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, the Lakers were hoping to capitalize on the momentum. However, the team made history in the 122-73 loss against the Mavs on Sunday, per NBA.com.
The 49-point loss was a Lakers franchise record and it happened on the 11th anniversary of Kobe's 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors. It was a rude awakening for the young Lakers team that was talking about the playoffs in the first month of the season.
No starter scored in double figures in the loss in Dallas. Brandon Ingram shot 2 for 12 from the field for only six points. Lou Williams had 15 points off the bench while Jordan Clarkson added 10 points as a super sub.
It was a poor performance for the Lakers overall as they shot 3 for 21 from threes while getting outrebounded 49 to 32. They also allowed the Mavs to hit 17 threes in the game and sending them to the free-throw line 19 times. Dallas ended up hitting all of their free throw attempts.
The Lakers are now 16-32 for the season which is the third-worst record in the NBA after the 9-34 Brooklyn Nets and the 14-30 Miami Heat. Since starting the season 10-10, the Lakers are 6-22 since the start of December.
Lakers head coach Luke Walton called their performance "embarrassing" not only for the franchise but for the fans. It is a very frustrating game since the team was coming off a good performance against Indiana.
"We didn't show up to play, honestly, which is frustrating and honestly it's embarrassing - for us as a team, for us as an organization, for our Lakers fans that are so good to us," Walton said, via Lakers.com.
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