LOS ANGELES — The boos started in the first half and gradually increased in volume in the waning seconds of a third double-digit home loss over the past eight days.
The new year offered a reprieve for the Los Angeles Lakers from the grueling road that defined their December. Five straight games at Crypto.com Arena provided an opportunity to pad their record and climb the Western Conference standings.
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Instead, after a 2-3 homestand that included three decisive losses and two narrow victories, the Lakers continue to underachieve and confound as they approach the midway point of the 2023-24 season.
In their latest loss, the Lakers trailed wire-to-wire against the Phoenix Suns Thursday, losing 127-109 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Los Angeles dropped back below .500 to 19-20 and is just 5-11 since winning the In-Season Tournament. They are tied with the streaking Utah Jazz for No. 10 in the West, making their upcoming trip to Salt Lake City for a Saturday tilt an even more critical matchup.
“It was just a tough night,” head coach Darvin Ham said. “One of those nights.”
These nights have occurred far too often for the Lakers recently. In Thursday’s loss, their 11th in 16 games since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament, the Lakers folded almost immediately outside of a brief comeback encompassing the late-first and early-second quarter stretches. They trailed by as many as 17 points in the first quarter and by 32 points early in the fourth quarter. The Suns badly outshot them at the 3-point and free-throw lines in the competitive portions of the game. The Lakers’ 18 turnovers led to 28 Suns points.
After beating the Clippers and Raptors to temporarily restore stability and confidence, the Lakers were swiftly reminded of how far the current group has to go to reach their desired heights.
“I think it’s just a lot of holes in our system right now,” D’Angelo Russell said. “You use the regular season to figure those things out, the ups and downs, the digression, the setbacks, all these things. Injuries just keep playing a part in our success.”
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To Russell’s point, the Lakers were without Christian Wood (migraine), Rui Hachimura (calf strain) and Gabe Vincent (left knee surgery), leaving them particularly thin in the frontcourt, an area that had been a significant advantage for them in their three previous wins over the Suns this season. With Anthony Davis only taking 11 shots in 32 minutes, LeBron James scoring a season-low 10 points, Cam Reddish exiting the game in the first half due to knee soreness and Jaxson Hayes fouling out in 13 minutes, most of the remaining Lakers frontcourt players had off-nights.
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It was always going to be difficult to beat a team as talented as the Suns for a fourth time in the regular season, especially since the Lakers’ total margin of victory in their three wins was just 11 points. Including the preseason finale in Palm Springs, Calif., the teams have faced each other five times already before the official midway point of the regular season.
It didn’t help that the Suns had their Big Three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal healthy for the first time against the Lakers. Beal scored a season-high 37 points, including 20 in the third quarter to seal the game, and nearly tied a Suns franchise record with eight 3-pointers made. Booker had 31 points, setting an early tone with 16 in the first quarter. Durant, who had torched the Lakers in previous matchups, was the ultimate decoy with 18 points on 12 shots.
The Suns were prepared for the Lakers’ defensive game plan and had the firepower to shred it.
“I thought they were very aware of what we were going to do,” James said.
James also noted how potent an offense like the Suns’ can be with “three three-level scorers,” an interesting comment considering the Lakers’ noted interest in trade targets like Bulls guard Zach LaVine, Bulls wing DeMar DeRozan and Hawks guard Dejounte Murray.
“It’s obvious,” James said. “… It creates so many disadvantages for your defense and always having you on your toes. So, they’re going to be a really good team once they continue to mesh. But those three guys are obviously exceptional.”
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The Lakers’ 3-point defense has been a hot-button issue for weeks, and the topic popped up once again after this game.
For the season, the Lakers rank 30th in 3-pointers allowed per game, 25th in 3-point attempts allowed per game and 22nd in 3-point percentage allowed — all abysmal marks for a team that takes pride in its defense. Since the IST, they’ve remained 30th in 3-pointers allowed per game while dropping to 28th in 3-point percentage allowed. (They’ve improved to 22nd in 3-point attempts allowed per game.)
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Ham continues to push back against questions regarding his defensive scheme, which aggressively aims to funnel the ball from elite shot-creators and playmakers to lesser shooters and scorers, even if it means giving the latter group open or semi-open looks. That strategy has burned the Lakers at times recently, as poor shooters like Dallas’ Dante Exum and Memphis’ Marcus Smart have made shots early and gained confidence to propel them to season-best shooting performances.
“We’re confident in our matchups,” Ham said. “It wasn’t the scheme of leaving anyone open. We turned the ball over. … But no, never, ever do we scheme to give up open shots.”
Lakers players have been careful not to directly speak out against the team’s defensive coverages, but their 3-point defense is constantly mentioned in postgame media dialogues, with players often referencing how well opposing players and teams shoot against them. Davis went as far as to say he thinks the Lakers need to start treating their opponents like they’re all Stephen Curry, no matter their shooting percentages.
“Realizing that everybody, no matter what their numbers are, shoots well against us,” Davis said. “If a guy is shooting 10 percent, he’s gonna shoot 40 against us. Just knowing that. There hasn’t been a time where the numbers have told the truth to us when we’ve played guys. I mean, even Brad’s been struggling. So we gotta play everybody like they’re Steph when they play us because these guys — not just this team — everybody has shot the ball well against us.”
At this point, 3-point defense, 3-point shooting and turnovers have been consistent issues for the Lakers this season. They will occasionally have a productive outing in one or two categories, but they’re losing the math battle far too frequently. That’s before factoring in their injuries, fluctuating lineups and inconsistent supporting cast, all of which have led to the group still not knowing what to expect from themselves on a nightly basis.
“I think we’re team that’s still trying to figure things out,” Russell said. “We’re still mixing and matching lineups, finishing groups, starting groups. So, we’re still figuring it out. So, I wouldn’t say panic, or anything like that. Last year was a prime example of this team not being where they wanted to be and we had some new energy, new vibes and it kind of made … it got us to where we ended off last year.
“So, I think we can still find the light at the end of the tunnel. We just got to get better, got to keep getting better.”
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The Jazz, winners of three straight games and eight of their last 10, are up next. It’s the only time the Lakers leave Los Angeles until Jan. 26. Wood is expected to return, but it’s unknown if Reddish and/or Hachimura will be available.
Either way, their larger issues and points of emphasis remain clear, even if the sustainable solutions aren’t as obvious.
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“We got to defend, we’ve got to get back in transition,” James said. “They have one of the best homecourt advantages when you go up there. Altitude plays a real part in it. So we have to get into the flow of the game early. Catch our second wind as quick as possible. And then make them defend. They’re a very good team and they’ve been playing very well lately.”
(Top photo: Harry How / Getty Images)