This December, the Lakers offered plenty of reason for hope. They started the month with what might be their worst defeat of the season so far: a 15-point loss to a Denver Nuggets team that was ravaged by injuries. But they never got blown out the way they did last season. And two games after the loss in Denver, they beat the surging Philadelphia 76ers, then took the Knicks to overtime and stayed with the Cleveland Cavaliers enough to lose only by single digits.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 01, 2018 04:48 UTC