LeBron, Lakers on Wrong Side of History, Redick Rips LAL After Loss to Brooks, Suns
The Los Angeles Lakers carved out a small place in NBA history after losing to the Phoenix Suns 132-108.
At 19-9, the Lakers remain fourth in the Western Conference. Their nine defeats are all by double digits, though, which hasn't happened in 35 years.
Head coach JJ Redick thought his team's effort was lacking as the Suns shot 58.8 percent from the floor and hit 14 three-pointers.
"We practice this stuff enough," he told reporters. "We review this stuff enough. We show film on this stuff enough that to me, it like comes down to ... just making the choice. It's making the choice.
"There are shortcuts you can take or you can do the hard thing and you can make the second effort or you can sprint back or you can't. It's just a choice. And there's a million choices in a game, and you're very likely not going to make every choice correctly. But can you make the vast majority of them correctly? It gives you a chance to win."
For the Lakers as a collective, Tuesday's result was doubly frustrating because how much Suns wing Dillon Brooks impacted the proceedings. Brooks, a perpetual irritant on the court for LeBron James, had a game-high 25 points.
Los Angeles was missing Luka Dončić and Rui Hachimura against Phoenix, but guard Austin Reaves didn't use that as an excuse for the performance.
"I think it's just a guard with five people every possession," he said. "Everybody has got to be locked in every single possession, especially on rotations and schemes and stuff like that. We've shown we can do it. We just got to do it more regularly."
Defense has been a larger issue for L.A. throughout the year, too. The Lakers are 24th in defensive rating (117.6), per NBA.com, and that doesn't cut it for a team with championship aspirations.
Having Dončić front and center comes with trade-offs because opposing teams often look to target him on the perimeter. The 40-year-old James isn't the same two-way force he was during his prime, either.
Even if they make some additions before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, the Lakers won't become an elite defensive team. But they definitely have a lot of room for improvement.
