Paper Guiluo City | Ham insists the position is solid, how long can Lakers management be patient with him?

On Friday night, Darwin Hamm was given an early opportunity to make a statement. Two hours later, it was the Lakers' turn.

Faced with a mid-season crisis, the Lakers will need to focus on Friday's game and give it their all to end their losing streak before they host a full-fire Clippers on Sunday.

However, the Lakers didn't rise to the challenge with effort and in some ways, as they did against the Miami Heat on Wednesday, they didn't have the ability to rise to the challenge, replacing turnovers and hits with sluggish blocks on shooters and flustered last-quarter offense.

The Memphis Grizzlies trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half before beating the Lakers 127-113 to take a 14-point lead in the final quarter.

LeBron James said: "We're just terrible right now. ”

As Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart swooped into dagger-like three-pointers, boos and murmurs replaced the passion that had been ignited early on the Lakers' home court.

James hit his first four three-pointers in the first quarter, and he jumped around the court in celebration. Anthony Davis roared and scored 31 points with his efforts. Austin Reaves had 19 points and a career-best 12 assists.

But when the Lakers' offense stalled — and one of the league's worst teams — every now and then – Memphis' offense got hot and stayed hot. The Grizzlies made 23 three-pointers, the most of any team against the Lakers this season.

"As players, we have to do a better job of interfering with their missed shots,...... We have to do better ourselves. ”

Before the start of this game, Memphis was the worst shooting team in the NBA. On Friday, the Grizzlies shot 51.1 percent from the field, while the Lakers relied on pick-and-rolls to score points.

The Lakers' timidity in the late game was not commensurate with Ham's early refusal to admit defeat.

Ham said of the Grizzlies: "They shoot accurately. ”

Before the game, amid questions about his performance, the Lakers head coach said he felt reliable about his place on the team.

"It's inevitable," Hamm said. I'm grounded, my boss, boss Jenny Bass, our president Robert Pelinka – we're all on the same page. As long as they don't say it, I think I'll be fine. I know what they think of me, and I know where we are. So, our position is unanimous. My two captains, I communicate with them. Our communication has always been at a high level. "

A report from The Athletic said that the "growing estrangement" between Ham and the locker room cited six anonymous sources.

"It reminds me of watching '60 Minutes' with my dad in the '80s," Hamm said. In one episode, they talked about Cosa Nostra and the mafia, the people who began to stand trial, and their star witness appeared with a black potato bag over his head and sunglasses. The name could not be made public due to fear.

So it seems to be the standard for reporting on the NBA now. "People say this and that online. Not all journalists – and I don't want to be disrespectful to anyone here – but it's a bit disingenuous when you say that sources are anonymous and they don't want to put their name on something, but they want to give you information and then you take the information and now everyone has the opportunity to dissect it and spread it out in their own way. I hope that we can get to a point where people can stand firm on their point of view, and then maybe we can have a real dialogue and get there. ”

Ham did say that he has evaluated his coaching performance during the Lakers' recent slump.

"You know, for me, it's like a movie, really using that effectively, using the time that we're able to play, really figuring out what we need to work on, making us sharper," Hamm said. I always ask my staff to provide feedback and get involved, to really listen to them and me. Obviously, from a coach's point of view, I have to make the final decision on something, but really, everybody sees it. I just took in what everybody saw. ”

After the game, Hamm's voice was the loudest and harshest, and he rebuked those who, in his opinion, had neglected the big picture.

"That's the NBA, man," he said. It's a marathon, you have to look at the big picture, I'm tired of people talking about life and death in every one of our races. In fact, it's ridiculous. It's like 'come on, man, it's a marathon'. "We're going through a tough phase. ”

The Lakers have more to test, their defense is struggling, and their offense remains a mystery as they move deeper and deeper down the ranks in the West.

On Friday, the Lakers are still missing Hachimura and D'Angelo Russell, and their return is sure to be welcome.

But until the Lakers make a breakthrough and start winning — they've only won three times since Dec. 9 — the pressure won't go away.

"We have to stick together," Davis said. Obviously, this has been a tough time for us. We still have a lot of games to play. But we are now going in the wrong direction. The last thing we need is to fall apart, especially when players are out.

"So we have to stick together and find a way to solve it. We can't get emotional. We can't complain or anything. We can't target individuals. Every single one of us, including myself, everyone in the dressing room, the coaching staff, has to look in the mirror and find out where each of us can do better and help the team get better. I think then we can step up and turn things around. "