The Los Angeles Lakers have been slipping these days. They have misplaced two video games in a row and 5 of their final 9 video games, and their lack of defense has been the principle offender. They have allowed a minimum of 132 in three of their final 5 video games, and the remainder of the NBA is beginning to totally expose this weak spot.
Coach JJ Redick lamented the Lakers’ lack of defense after their 132-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. The workforce does not have a lot time to enhance on that finish of the ground, as it can face Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets, who’re third in factors per sport and offensive score, on Christmas Day.
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After Tuesday’s defeat, guard Marcus Smart, considered one of L.A.’s few above-average defenders, sounded the alarm and mentioned that groups are trying to “kill” the Purple and Gold.
“It doesn’t matter what the percentages say, it doesn’t matter what the numbers say, you can’t go by that,” Smart mentioned. “We gotta go by understanding that we wear the Lakers across our jersey and everybody’s coming to try to kill us.”
The former Defensive Player of the Year additionally did not maintain again when describing how poor his workforce has been on the defensive finish.
Via ESPN:
“We doing [expletive],” Smart mentioned. “We’re being real [expletive] right now, and it’s showing. … Every team goes through it trying to figure it out. You just pray that it happens early and we can fix it before it’s too late. But yeah, there’s really no defense, no scheme we can do when we’re giving up offensive rebounds in crucial moments like we are, or guys are getting wherever they want on the court.
“And there is no assist, there is no resistance, there is no urgency. So, it is robust. And JJ is correct. There’s actually nothing he can do. It’s on us.”
L.A. may not have the players needed to become an elite defensive team, but there is no excuse for lack of effort or execution. While the team has a very strong 19-9 overall record, it needs to rectify such deficiencies before it falls further in the Western Conference standings.
It is currently in fourth place in the West and is 2.5 games behind the second-place San Antonio Spurs and 1.5 video games forward of the sixth-place Rockets.
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This article initially appeared on LeBron Wire: Marcus Smart’s urgent message to Lakers teammates about fixing defense