LeBron James: Lakers ‘not where we want to be’

Well, at least the Lakers won the In-Season Tournament. Right now, they appeared equipped to win little else.

The latest example came during the 126-115 home loss to the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day.

That makes the Lakers (16-15) sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference. They’re just 2-6 since winning the In-Season tournament.

I don’t think we’re where we want to be to compete versus the top teams until we continue to get better and better, continue to work out habits,” LeBron James told reporters. “We’re still trying to figure our situation out as far as how we want to continue to attack each game, but we’ll get better.”

Los Angeles may have to make a trade to get there. Aside from James and Anthony Davis, there doesn’t seem to be too many reasons to believe in big things.

“You always think about shots you could have made, defensive plays you could have made, rebounds you could have had, free throws I could have made, things like that that could have changed the game,” Davis said. “I missed a free throw in the third quarter and they end up getting a fast-break 3, and all I was thinking was if I make the free throw, that doesn’t happen.”

That said, it shouldn’t all be on the shoulders of James, who turns 39 years old later this week, and Davis.