By the end of the first-round, the only thing more battered and bruised than the injury-ravaged Lakers might have been the rims they were shooting on. After the team missed 138 of their 197 3-point attempts in the first round, it wouldn’t be a shock if they had to replace the baskets in Staples Center in addition to a few of their shooters. Or at least hammer out a few dents and paint over a couple chips in the orange metal cylinders.
“We’re not going to sugarcoat it: We shot the ball terribly,” summarized Jared Dudley at the team’s exit interviews.