On March 28, Beijing time, the Lakers lost 108-116 in the away challenge to the Pelicans, which is still a very important game for the Lakers, after all, after losing this game, the Lakers' record of 31 wins and 43 losses has made them fall to the 10th position in the West, and the Lakers are currently 0.5 wins behind the 9th Pelicans, and only slightly ahead of the Spurs in the 11th place in the West.
At the end of the game, LeBron James, the team's superstar, played in 42 minutes and 14 of 27 shooting, with 39 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. LeBron James' stats are certainly not a problem, but the Lakers lost this game in large part because the backcourt did not perform well enough, especially Russell Westbrook and Austin Rivers in the starting lineup.
Statistically, Russell Westbrook had 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists on 8-of-15 shooting in 32 minutes, and even hit two three-pointers from beyond the three-point line, but only had -18 plus-minus and three turnovers in the future in the whole game. As for Austin Reeves, he did not score a point on 0-of-2 shooting after playing 20 minutes, so that Reeves could only have a plus-minus performance of -16.
The only performance in the starting backcourt also made the US media Anthony Irving dissatisfied, Anthony Owen once again mentioned the Lakers' choice to let go of Alex Caruso in last offseason, and the Lakers management chose to reinforce the starting center DeAndre Jordan has left the team, and the new star backcourt Kendrick Nunn has not played for the team so far this season due to injury problems:
In contrast, Caruso has helped the team play one of the best performances in the East after joining the Bulls, coupled with the news that the Lakers refused to sign a contract under the condition that Caruso took the initiative to reduce his salary, which inevitably made fans unhappy with the management's move, especially when the Lakers' backcourt player performance so far this season is indeed not so ideal.