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dave mcmenamin
Phoenix – His team’s defense fell apart in the third quarter 132-108 loss till phoenix sun tuesday night, Los Angeles Lakers Coach JJ Redick was asked a simple, direct question.
Are there enough players in your group that are ready to play with the consistent effort and physicality the way a team like the Suns plays every night?
“No,” Reddick replied.
The loss to Phoenix was LA’s third in its last five games and ninth of the season – all of which came by double digits.
Despite being 19-9 overall and No. 4 in the Western Conference, the Lakers’ cumulative point differential is just plus-8 through 28 games.
After improving in the second half of last season and ranking 17th in the NBA in defensive rating, the Lakers have suffered a decline early this season – ranking 24th.
Things went sideways for LA after halftime in Phoenix, when the Lakers went ahead 45-29 in the third quarter and the Suns shot 72.7% from the field (83.3% on 3-pointers) in the period.
“We practice this stuff enough,” Redick said of the defensive principles he wants to see. “We review this thing enough. We show so much film on this thing that for me, it just comes down to making choices. It’s making choices.
“There are shortcuts you can take or you can do the hard thing and you can try another time or you can come back faster or you can’t. It’s just a choice. And there are a million choices in a game, and very likely you won’t choose every choice correctly. But can you choose the majority of them correctly? That gives you a chance to win.”
austin reeves Scored 17 points off the bench during a one-minute restriction in his return after a three-game absence due to a left calf strain. Lebron James Led LA with 23 points and six assists in 26 minutes.
LA was missing two starters luka doncic (contusion of the left calf) and Rui Hachimura (pain in right waist). Both players are considered day-to-day heading into the Lakers’ Christmas Day matchup Houston Rockets,
Although health has been a challenge for the Lakers throughout the season, with James missing the first 14 games due to sciatica as the most obvious example, both James and Reeves stressed that the Lakers must perform better no matter who is in uniform.
“There’s got to be five guys on a string,” James said, repeating a statement he’s made several times already this season.
Reeves said: “I think it’s just a guard that has five guys on every possession. Everybody has to be locked down on every possession, especially on rotations and schemes and things like that. We’ve shown we can do it. We just have to do it more regularly.”
marcus smartThe former Defensive Player of the Year, signed in the offseason to add value to L.A., was even more candid than Redick in his assessment.
“We’re doing this—,” Smart said. “We’re being real cautious right now, and it’s showing. … Every team is trying to figure it out. You just pray it happens quickly and we can fix it before it’s too late. But yeah, there’s really no defense, no plan we can make when we’re giving up offensive rebounds in key moments, or guys are going where they want on the court.
“And there’s no help, no resistance, no urgency. So, it’s hard. And JJ is right. There’s really nothing he can do. It’s on us.”
And with the trade deadline approximately six weeks away, part of the “we” in the Lakers locker room could really change if the roster as currently constructed doesn’t begin to show signs of defensive improvement.
