The Lakers offensive woes aren’t reflecting on the win/loss record — at least not yet, but that’s not stopping LeBron James from seeing a pattern, and even comparing this pattern to another professional team’s struggles.
“We’re like the Pittsburgh Steelers right now. The Pittsburgh Steelers right now have not out-gained or out-scored any of their opponents in this season right now and yet they’ve got a winning record,” James told reporters after Saturday’s 120-101 loss to the Orlando Magic (h/t Clutch Points).
What LeBron is referring to is the fact that the Steelers set a record following their most recent win. And not a good one.
The Steelers became the only team in the Super Bowl era to have a winning record (5-3) through eight games despite being outgained every game. Pittsburgh has been outgained by 790 yards this season following the 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans on Thursday.
Steelers are the only team in the Super Bowl era to have a winning record (5-3) through 8 games despite being outgained every game.
Pittsburgh has been outgained by 790 yards this year. pic.twitter.com/DdQNU3SHdt
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 3, 2023
When you compare that to the Lakers, who are 3-3, James pointed out the fact that the team’s offensive rebounds and turnovers haven’t been their strong suit.
“We’ve got to try and figure it out because it’s definitely been our trend,” James said via Lakers Nation. “Offensive rebounds and points off turnovers. We do a good job of getting a stop in the first possession, but we allow offensive rebounds and then we allow them to score off of the offensive rebounds, so we’ve got to do a better job of that. We’ve got to get that under wraps, something that we should challenge ourselves for, for sure.”
The Lakers got outworked, plain and simple. And with the way the schedule looks ahead, it won’t get easier for them.
