Taurean Prince refuses to blame the Lakers’ struggles on his injuries
The Los Angeles Lakers’ start to the season hasn’t been the best either, as they dropped to 3-5 after being destroyed 128-94 by the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
Like the other games, this one saw L.A. go to Houston with a depleted roster due to the injuries to Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jarred Vanderbilt, Anthony Davis, Gabe Vincent, and Jaxson Hayes. The Lakers’ early start was not promising as they trailed early in the first quarter and never recovered.
It was going to need other players on the squad to stand up in Davis’ absence, but nobody did. This one clearly lacked enthusiasm and effort, which contributed to the defeat.
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Taurean Prince, who missed two games before making a comeback on Monday against the Miami Heat, acknowledged that injuries play a part in the team’s early-season troubles but is refusing to use them as an excuse:
Taurean Prince, who won the starting forward position left empty by Vanderbilt’s injury during the preseason, acknowledged, peering around the visitors’ locker room at Toyota Centre, that he “forgot my guy Gabe [Vincent] wasn’t even here,” a reference to another injured player who was left behind by the team to recuperate from a swollen left knee.
Prince explained, “It’s like, just putting your mind around what could be or the pieces that we are missing — you use that as something you keep in the back of your mind where you just know certain things could be different given a certain situation, but you don’t want to use that as an excuse.” “But that’s not how life works.”
Los Angeles is presently 0-5 away from Crypto.com Arena and has not won a road game in their four games thus far on this trip. Fans of the Lakers surely did not anticipate these kinds of troubles given the high expectations this squad had over the summer.
Even though injuries have contributed significantly to several of these defeats, the Lakers’ performance against the Rockets could not be condoned. These losses will become noticeable towards the end of the regular season because of how competitive the Western Conference is this year.
To wrap out the road trip, Los Angeles will play their first In-Season Tournament matchup against the Phoenix Suns on Friday, Nov. 10.
According to D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers must “play for one another.”
The purple and gold have had a difficult start, and there seems to be a growing sense of urgency for the team to start winning games.D’Angelo Russell feels that in order for the club to attempt and turn things around, they must “play for another.”
