Five takeaways from the Lakers’ 119-115 loss to Phoenix Suns
Defense was a problem for the Lakers last season. Their defensive rating ranked last in the NBA.
Defense is still a problem. It has been all season, but when the Lakers were shooting better that masked their problems on defense.
So when Julius Randle was asked what had changed that has caused the Lakers to struggle on defense, he replied honestly.
“We weren’t playing defense earlier in the season either,” Randle said. “We just were making a lot of shots.”
Here are five takeaways from Friday’s 119-115 loss to the Suns.
1) Being a good defensive team has a lot to do with the mentality players have. Coach Luke Walton talked Friday morning about how good defensive teams enjoy sucking the life out of an opposing offense. He said they like seeing opponents fail and begin to bicker with one another as their offense doesn’t work. Being able to do that means having the right mentality. “It’s not difficult, it just takes time,” Walton said. “Getting your reps in and doing it day after day and being committed to it. It’s another thing that’s not that glamorous — to be, individually, to be a good team defender.”
2) Randle came out of the game a little banged up but insisted he won’t miss any games. Late in the fourth quarter, he aggravated a right hip injury that apparently he has been playing with for a couple of games. This is not the same side as his hip pointer injury from last month.
3) The Lakers had only 18 assists on Friday. They’ve had lows of 14 assists against the Rockets, 15 against the Jazz, 16 against the Grizzlies and Raptors and 17 in a win over the Chicago Bulls. Walton wants more than that and it’s no coincidence that the Lakers have lost their last five games, all while making fewer than 20 assists.
4) Lou Williams admitted some of the young Lakers have gotten down on themselves about the losses. “That’s something that happens,” Williams said. “It’s human nature. We’ve got to be pros at the end of the day. We’ve got to go out there to compete for four quarters and give ourselves an opportunity to win the game the best we can.”
5) Not having Nick Young takes away a scoring threat for the Lakers and draws bull’s-eyes on guards Lou Williams and Jordan Clarkson. It also takes away one of the Lakers’ better defensive players.
Twitter: @taniaganguli
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