Dorian Finney-Smith doesn’t want any of the blame for the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 126-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena to fall on the feet of the coaching staff. In his postgame press conference, Finney-Smith admitted that the Lakers players just failed to execute the game plan that had been put in place.
“We ain’t execute the game plan like we were supposed to,” Finney-Smith said. “But the coaches, they gave us the right answers to the test. We just ain’t use the study guide.”
Well, that isn’t ideal, is it? Head coach JJ Redick and his staff’s message doesn’t seem to be resonating with the team all the time.
After the 118-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Jan 7, Redick criticized Lakers players for not defending all that well. He stated he had never seen his team defend in that manner in terms of their rotations and was just puzzled by what was going on, on the court.
The Lakers’ defense allowed the Mavericks to shoot 52.3% from the field in that loss and they were even worse here. The Spurs shot 53.3% from the field and were at 59.6% in the second half when they managed to turn the tide of the contest.
The Lakers led 62-53 at the half and had a 10-point lead late in the third quarter as well, but collapsed after that. The Spurs managed to tie the game at 89 at the end of the quarter and then dominated in the fourth to win by 24 points. They went on a ridiculous 44-16 run from when there were 3:57 left in the third to 2:06 in the fourth.
Finney-Smith was also asked postgame what caused that shift from the first to the second half.
“They made adjustments,” Finney-Smith stated. “They seen we were switching, so seemed like once we got (Anthony Davis) on the perimeter, they started attacking the basket and it worked out well.”
Finney-Smith praised Chris Paul for manipulating the game exceptionally well in the second half. The 31-year-old also added that when the Lakers did manage to force a miss, they gave up offensive rebounds to undo all their hard work.
The Spurs had a 66-40 edge in points in the paint and got 19 second-chance points. They also forced the Lakers into 19 turnovers and earned 25 points off them. The Spurs just managed to hurt the hosts in so many different ways here.
As for Finney-Smith himself, he had four points (1-4 FG), three rebounds, and two steals off the bench for the Lakers here. He had some good moments on defense and brought some intensity, but didn’t make much of an impact offensively.
The Lakers have now lost three in a row to drop to 20-17 on the season and you wonder if Redick might be contemplating a change in the starting lineup. Finney-Smith has been coming off the bench since arriving from the Brooklyn Nets and it might be time to make him a starter over Max Christie.
Redick didn’t hint at a change in the lineup in his press conference, though, so expect the Lakers to stick with Christie in the starting lineup when they take on the Miami Heat at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday at 10 PM ET.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
