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Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel says it is understandable his players reacted badly to their loss away to the Portland Trail Blazers as they have high expectations of themselves.
Without the injured LeBron James and with Anthony Davis managing just seven minutes, the Lakers fell to a 105-90 defeat as their up-and-down early season form continued.
Russell Westbrook in particular struggled in Saturday’s contest as he made just one of 13 shots for eight points, while turning the ball over on six occasions.
The defeat caps a poor week for the Lakers, having blown a 19-point lead to lose 107-104 to the lowly Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.
Now 5-5 for the season and down in 10th in the Western Conference, Vogel is hopeful his side can grow stronger on the back of a tough run of results.
“We do have high expectations,” Vogel said. “We’re going to be a little edgy when we lose. I hope we’re edgy when we lose. When we fail, failure is just fertiliser for growth.
“That’s the mindset that you have to have, and if you play the way we’re playing and you win by one, maybe you’re not as focused or locked in on correcting things or improving. We’re just taking the silver lining in it.”
Vogel confirmed Davis was replaced due to feeling unwell, but stressed the illness was not coronavirus related.
“He woke up today with a bit of a stomach bug,” Vogel said. “He came back in and said his thumb felt pretty good, good enough to play, then he went and threw up in the back.
“He still wanted to give it a go, but by the time tip-off came he had already thrown up four times. He wanted to see if getting out on the floor would change it, but wasn’t able to go.”
The Lakers will hope to have Davis back for the visit of the Charlotte Hornets on Monday as they attempt to get their NBA campaign back on track.
“We have a good process with our coaching staff, we have a good system in place, and the mindset is to stay positive, stay together and grow each day,” Vogel said.
