Coach JJ Redick felt the Lakers gave the appropriate fight against the Hawks on Friday on the road, even though they fell short late.
Losing seven of their last nine games, Lakers fans might not want to hear about progress being made in defeats.
However, Friday's effort in a loss against the Hawks demonstrated what the team needs to do to win games.
Anthony Davis, who struggled in the team's previous contest, a 134-93 loss to the Heat, responded by scoring 38 points and going a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
LeBron James also stepped up with a triple double and L.A. got good performances off the bench from players like Max Christie, who scored nine points and had a clutch block on Trae Young in the closing seconds of regulation.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they fell short in overtime due to some self-inflicted errors late, and Trae made up for the miss he had in the fourth quarter by hitting the game-winner in overtime.
Frustration was oozing out of all the comments coming from the Lakers' postgame press conferences. Still, even in the loss, JJ Redick was able to speak positively for a moment about his team's effort level.
"I told the group that I appreciated their effort, their intent, their energy," Redick said. Truthfully, a lot of their execution, like we did enough to win a basketball game tonight. We did enough to win a basketball game. Similar to Orlando. Similar to Oklahoma City. I thought we did enough to win a basketball game and I'm very appreciative of that. You can build on that. You can adjust and scheme and, maybe, tweak some things late-game. That stuff you can build on."
If Bron and AD play at the level they did on Friday, that's usually good enough to win most games.
Being on a three-game losing streak is tough, but don't let recency bias cloud your judgment on this team. They're not as bad as this current run of games might make one feel, nor are they as good as that early 3-0 start suggested.
At 12-11, the Lakers are a mediocre team. When they get back players like Austin Reaves and Jaxson Hayes, their floor can rise and they can work themselves out of the play-in area of the standings and back near the top of the Western Conference.
They just need to tread water in the meantime and string together games with the effort level they had versus the Hawks. If they do, the wins will come, especially with the schedule softening with teams like the Blazers and Pistons coming to town.
Or, they can play without respect for the game, keep racking up losses and allow a losing streak to become a freefall to the bottom of the NBA.
The choice is theirs, so let's hope they make the right decision.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
