Lakers Defense Called 'Trash' by NBA Twitter After Loss to Jazz

The Los Angeles Lakers' defense was criticized after struggling mightily to generate stops in a 130-116 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

L.A.'s play at that end of the floor has been a bright spot despite the team's sluggish start, ranking seventh in the NBA with a 45.3 percent opponent's field goal percentage. That wasn't the case against Utah, which shot 50.5 percent from the field and knocked down 17 threes to drop the Lakers' record to 2-6.

"We never want it to happen, but there's some games throughout the course of an 82-game season where you don't have it defensively, and tonight we didn't have it," five-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection LeBron James told reporters.

Here's a look at some social-media reaction to the defensive performance:

The struggles defending a well-rounded Jazz offense overshadowed some other positive signs for Los Angeles.

James nearly had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Anthony Davis recorded 22 points and eight boards. Russell Westbrook also continued his resurgence off the bench with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting along with six dimes.

They just couldn't slow down Utah, which scored 40 points in the first quarter and never looked back.

Lauri Markkanen paced the Jazz with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Clarkson (20 points), Kelly Olynyk (18), Collin Sexton (17) and Mike Conley (15) also reached double figures in scoring for Utah, which improved to 7-3.

"Defense is something you can get right damn near every night," Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said. "We need to be accountable on that end of the floor. ... We gotta get stops to survive and excel."

L.A. will look to combine its typically reliable defense with an improving offense when it returns to action Sunday to host the Cleveland Cavaliers.