After a promising 3-0 start to the NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers have lost four of their last five games, falling into some of the flaws seen last season, and now return from an away tour with a 4-4 record. It was more a question of the team’s level of effort, and the Lakers know that they can be better, they have shown it at various moments in this part of the season. After the frustrating loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, Lakers coach JJ Redick wasn’t feeling in a good mood. During his postgame press conference, Redick walked out on the first question. He was asked what his opinion was on how the team had played.
The rookie coach responded quickly and simply as he walked away. “I just did.” Redick is normally not one to let his emotions show, but it appears he took this loss to Memphis very hard. He credited Lakers star LeBron James for his effort, but was silent about other Los Angeles players. “I think LeBron was amazing tonight. The biggest thing he stood out for. … He played hard. Almost 40 and he played harder than the rest of our team. It says a lot about him.”
James scored a season-high 39 points on 15-of-24 shooting with the Lakers without two starters in Anthony Davis (left heel contusion) and Rui Hachimura (illness). One of the main reasons for the Lakers’ struggles over the last week has been their lack of effort on defense. They fell to 28th in defensive efficiency league-wide, allowing 118.8 points per 100 possessions. James talked about the loss and didn’t seem concerned about the offense, but rather echoed what Redick felt frustrated about.
“We have to compete and we have to defend,” James said. “We gave up 50% shooting and they shot the 3-ball well. They got into the paint. They got offensive rebounds. They got second chance points. And they even had some transition points. We didn’t offer much in the We have to do a better job on defense too, we have to hang our hats on that too.” If Los Angeles wants to have a chance to be competitive this year, defense will have to be a priority. They didn’t have star Anthony Davis against the Grizzlies due to injury, but the rest of the players need to step up. Los Angeles now returns home for some games and they’re hoping that some Crypto.com Arena cheer will help them get their makeup done.
