By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Los Angeles Lakers’ recent slump hit what the team can only hope is rock bottom with a humiliating 41-point road loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday that left first-year head coach JJ Redick searching for answers.
The Lakers, losers of six of their last eight games, showed little life in the 134-93 trouncing, which came on the heels of their 29-point loss to the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Monday.
“I’m embarrassed, we’re all embarrassed, it’s embarrassing,” Redick told reporters.
“It wasn’t a game where I thought we had the right fight, the right professionalism … there’s not a sense from me that we’re together right now.”
A frustrated Redick could not point to one single issue that needed to be addressed, saying the team was unable to execute even the fundamentals of their game plan.
“We’re having trouble right now on both ends with base level game plan stuff. It’s very odd,” he said.
The Lakers in particular had no answer for Miami guard Tyler Herro, who scored a game-high 31 points and made nine three-pointers on Wednesday.
The Heat tied a franchise record for made 3-pointers in the contest with 24.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor against his former team to snap a six-game streak where he shot less than 50%.
The league’s all-time leading scorer, who is playing in his 22nd season, said he shared Redick’s feeling of embarrassment.
“It sucks for sure to get your ass whipped like that twice in a row,” James told reporters.
James, who turns 40 later this month, said that he has learned the importance of staying composed in the good and bad stretches of the marathon 82-game NBA regular season.
“You always stay even-keel,” he said.
“I’ve been in this game way too long. I never get too high, never get too low, because I know how fast it can turn.”
The Lakers, who are 12-10 on the season, good for ninth in the Western Conference, finish their road trip with a visit to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles)
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