You never know what you’re gonna get from the Lakers, though you can take a pretty good guess at what you’ll see from them defensively. And the answer is “not much.”
In the two games since LeBron James has returned from injury, Los Angeles has been soundly beaten, with their defense only making token appearances.
They were blown out by the Bulls on Saturday night, and then tipped off a trip to the East with a beatdown in Orlando. The Bulls scored 145 points. The Magic only had 118, but that’s not abnormal. They’re the league’s lowest-scoring squad, focusing on defense first. That’s sort of the opposite of the Lakers lately.
In the past seven losses, the Lakers (43-28) have allowed 123 points a game. They’ve lost three straight and have dropped to fourth in the Western Conference standings.
None of this, of course, is reason for alarm. And James’ return isn’t the reason for the defensive slide. The Lakers weren’t very good before that. Either way, they seemingly remain confident they can get it figured out in time for the playoffs next month.
“I think we should look back to the way we played in that eight-game winning streak (Feb. 20-March 6),” Luka Doncic, who led the Lakers with 32 points in the loss, told reporters. “I think we got a little bit satisfied, and we can’t afford that.”
Coach JJ Redick added that perhaps the dog days of the season have caught up with LA.
“There’s a couple guys, maybe from the schedule or from being out of the lineup, that just look tired,” Redick. “That happens periodically throughout a season when a group gets tired. That’s what it feels like right now. We weren’t able to sustain our level of intensity we started the game with.”
The Lakers return to action Wednesday at Indiana. They continue the trip Thursday at Chicago and Saturday at Memphis.
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