'We just suck right now,' LeBron says after the Lakers' fourth straight loss

 LOS ANGELES -- Whatever hope the Los Angeles Lakers had that returning to their home arena would be just what the club needed to get back on track was destroyed Friday night, probably around the Memphis Grizzlies' 20th 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter.

Memphis won 127-113 after tying the game at the end of the third quarter.

Less than a month after winning the league's inaugural in-season tournament, the Lakers are currently 17-19, 11th in the Western Conference, and out of even a play-in tournament place.

There was no sugarcoating it for LeBron James, who led all scorers with 32 points but went 2-for-6 from the foul line and made three turnovers in the fourth quarter.

"I mean, we're just sucking right now," James admitted.

Their problems have lasted weeks, with a 3-10 record since their tournament title in Las Vegas.

It was a title that, in retrospect, may have been given too much weight in appraising the Lakers' season, given that it was won with victories over the New Orleans Pelicans and Indiana Pacers.

"That was just two games," James explained. "It's a small sample size." Everyone is cracking up over Vegas and keeps bringing it up. There were two games. We took care of that matter. It was an in-season event, and we won it. However, that was only two games."

While James refused to focus on the tournament victories, Lakers coach Darvin Ham, who told reporters before the game that he has the support of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, said there has been too much focus on the recent losses.

"I'm tired of people living and dying with every single game we play," he remarked. "It's actually ridiculous. It's like, "Man, this is a marathon." And then we hit a rough patch. It's the same group.... We played some high-level games not long ago and need to get back to it.

"We have to keep fighting." We cannot afford to lose this struggle."

The Grizzlies outscored the Lakers by four points, with Jaren Jackson Jr. leading the way with 31. The Grizzlies also set a season best with 23-for-45 (51.1%) 3-point shooting.

Memphis entered the game ranked 11th in 3-pointers made per game (12.9) and lowest in team 3-point shooting (33.4%).

"They're NBA players," James said of Memphis' 3-point shooting. "They, too, practise their craft. It appears to happen frequently versus us, with the percentages going the opposite way. We had a game plan and a strategy for how we wanted to execute it, and I think we executed it as best as we could. And they made us pay for it."

After spending most of December on the road, the Lakers' January schedule was dominated by home games, with 11 of their first 12 games taking place at Crypto.com Arena.

They are 0-2 so far, with a Sunday matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, who have won 14 of their last 16 games.

Anthony Davis emphasised the significance of the Lakers turning inward as individuals in order to contribute their best to the group as the team attempts to regain its footing.

"We still have a lot of basketball left," Davis stated. "However, we're currently heading in the wrong direction." And the last thing we need is to split off and fall apart, especially when the males are out. So we'll have to stick together and figure it out. We can't be caught up in our emotions. We can't be whining or anything. Nothing can be taken personally.

"We have to look at ourselves individually, myself, everyone in the locker room, the coaching staff, and figure out what we can do better individually to help the team be better." And then I believe we can come out and turn things around."