The Los Angeles Lakers suffered yet another defeat on Thursday, with the Houston Rockets blowing them out 119-96 at Crypto.com Arena. This was the Lakers’ third straight loss, and forward Jake LaRavia was asked postgame why the team isn’t together on both ends of the floor.
“I couldn’t tell you,” LaRavia said, via Khobi Price. “… I think there might be a disconnect right now. But we’ll get on track. We’ll have this meeting, what JJ [Redick] was talking about, and hopefully the uncomfortability of it can kind of move us in the right direction.”
Lakers head coach JJ Redick was extremely critical of his players postgame and stated that Saturday’s practice and meeting were going to be uncomfortable. Some players might be getting called out then, and LaRavia is hoping that it will help the team get back on track.
The Lakers were 15-4 at the end of November and have gone 4-6 since to drop to 19-10. They have been atrocious defensively in December, with their 124.3 defensive rating ranking 28th.
The Rockets shot 48-90 (53.3%) from the field against the Lakers here. They dominated them on the glass as well, with a huge 48-25 advantage on the boards. The Lakers are a bad defensive team as is, and they made life all the more difficult for themselves by giving up 17 offensive rebounds.
The Rockets had come into this contest on the back of four losses in five games, and they just cruised to victory here. Of all the Lakers’ losses during this rough stretch, this might have been the worst of the lot, which is saying something.
LaRavia had five points (2-5 FG), four rebounds, one assist, and one block on the night. The 24-year-old was one of two Lakers with a positive plus-minus on the night at +1. The other was Jarred Vanderbilt, who was a +5.
Vanderbilt, who was once out of the rotation, might well have been the most impressive player on the night for the Lakers. The forward put up 11 points (4-6 FG), five rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Vanderbilt spoke about the Lakers’ issues postgame and stated that they had existed at the start of the season, but were masked by all the winning.
“This kind of been the trending thing even when we were winning,” Vanderbilt said, via Khobi Price. “Obviously, wins kind of shadow a lot of stuff. But it’s been the same pretty much all year, of how we finish games, lose games. Transition defense, rebounding, stuff like that, it’s been a trend all year. But obviously, when you’re winning, it kind of shadows that. It’s just a little bit more highlighted now.”
Defense has been a problem all season long, but the Lakers’ being brilliant offensively earlier in the season made up for that. They had a 120.2 offensive rating in November, which ranked fifth in the NBA. In December, however, that offensive rating has dropped to 114.5, which currently ranks 15th.
You’d expect the offense to get back on track at some point, but the defensive issues won’t be solved without trades. If no move is made, defense will ultimately prove to be the Lakers’ downfall come the playoffs. We’ll see this team in action next against the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday at 9:30 PM ET.
