LOS ANGELES — The Lakers and Pacers would be far from the first to come home from Las Vegas with a nasty hangover.
That seems to be the case. Since spending a weekend in Las Vegas, where they faced off for the inaugural In-Season Tournament title, the Lakers and Pacers have gone a combined 2-7.
“I mean, have you seen Indiana’s record since Vegas?” LeBron James said after the latest Lakers loss Monday night at home to the Knicks. When asked if there was something to the hangover idea, he responded,
“Could be.”
It’s not as simple as just blaming the IST, both teams also have battled travel and injury issues since the tournament. However, it seems too big a coincidence when looking at their records to say there is not some trouble coming down from the high of that competition.
Finally home for a game, the Lakers unveiled the banner for the IST on Monday night in an appropriately low-key ceremony for a team that put this banner next to the 17 NBA championship banners the franchise already displays.
hISTory pic.twitter.com/1aU0Zq3ovN
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 19, 2023
Nobody is badmouthing the tournament, which the Lakers took some pride in winning.
“It’s a great shot in the arm, as I mentioned before, in terms of us rising to the occasion from a competitive standpoint,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said pregame. “It furthermore sustains the foundation that we’re trying to set in terms of getting through the regular season and then ultimately into the playoffs.”
However, the Lakers dropped to 1-3 since the tournament. There have been injuries and players missing games — including Anthony Davis — but Ham added after the loss to the Knicks Monday that the travel has caught up with his team. Monday night was the first time the Lakers played in the Crypto.com Arena since Dec. 5.
“I’m not wanting to use excuses out there. I thought the way we played during [the tournament] was great,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “Obviously, we were whole [in Las Vegas]...
“But we know the games were in a whirlwind. Las Vegas wasn’t a long flight for us, but it’s just obviously being within your normal schedule, it’s going to have an effect, be it positive or negative. I thought it was more positive than negative for sure. But that said, there’s a travel schedule: Us leaving Vegas Sunday, coming back to L.A., getting ready for another long trip.”
Ham said nobody will feel sorry for the Lakers as they board a plane Tuesday for three games in four nights, starting in Chicago (and facing good Minnesota and Oklahoma City teams) before returning home to face the Celtics on Christmas Day.
It’s a tough stretch of games for the Lakers to shake off their hangover, but they will be in the spotlight again on Christmas Day. LeBron’s Lakers have risen to those big moments, but first they — and the Pacers — need to shake off their hangover and start playing like they did in the IST again.
