The Lakers still have a strong 19-9 record after Tuesday’s 132-108 loss in Phoenix, but their 117.6 defensive rating places them 24th in the NBA, and none of the six clubs below them in that category have more than 10 wins so far this season.
Recognizing that his team is trending in the wrong direction defensively, head coach JJ Redick highlighted the issue after Tuesday’s loss, admitting that the Lakers don’t have enough players who play maximum-effort, physical basketball on a consistent basis, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“We practice this stuff enough,” Redick said of the club’s defensive principles. “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.”
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, the Lakers believe this year’s team has a higher ceiling than last season’s, with Luka Doncic more comfortable in Los Angeles and plenty of offensive talent surrounding him. However, as Woike points out, the roster is missing last season’s highest-energy players like Dorian Finney-Smith and Jordan Goodwin.
The Lakers added former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart in free agency over the summer and he has lived up to expectations when he’s been healthy. In Smart’s 523 minutes on the court, L.A. has a defensive rating of 111.9, which would be tied for fifth in the league. That figure balloons to 119.1 with Smart on the bench.
Smart agreed with Redick that there’s plenty of work to do on that end of the floor.
“We doing s–t. We’re being real s—ty right now, and it’s showing,” Smart said, per McMenamin. “… Every team goes through it trying to figure it out. You just pray that it happens early and we can fix it before it’s too late.
“But yeah, there’s really no defense, no scheme we can do when we’re giving up offensive rebounds in crucial moments like we are, or guys are getting wherever they want on the court. And there’s no help, there’s no resistance, there’s no urgency. So, it’s tough. And JJ is right. There’s really nothing he can do. It’s on us.”
There’s some internal skepticism that the answer to the Lakers’ defensive woes is in-house, according to Woike, who points out that Finney-Smith and Goodwin were in-season additions in 2024/25. With the February 5 trade deadline just over six weeks away, the front office figures to be on the lookout for defensive-minded players who could meaningfully upgrade the current roster.
Your team starts Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and a 40 year old, obviously your defense will suck
Luka’s defensive stats are much better than the team’s:
1. His defensive rating is 112, much better than the team’s 117.
2. He is averaging 1.6 steals per game and 3.6 deflections. Best on team in steaks, second best in deflections.
3. He is averaging 8 defensive (9 total) rebounds a game which is top 15 in the league.
4. Opponents shoot 6% worse from 3 a game than their normal.
5. He is second in charges taken on the team after Austin on the team, and I believe they are both top ten in that category.
Luka, not Austin are the problems on defense. Neither is Ayton, who has been great at center, Smart or LaRavia.
The Lakers sometimes just don’t seem to have their head in the game and sleepwalking out there. Not sure if it’s the coaches not getting their heads into the game each time or what it is.
The Lakers have had lots of injuries so far. They have had 16 different starting lineups so far this year, second only to the Pacers. The inconsistency of the starters and the role players coming off the bench could have a lot to do with it.
And everyone use to call Sillivan A.I.
I am not intelligent enough to be called AI. It’s too much honor to me.
We are entering the part of the season when the paper tiger teams start to slip away into irrelevancy. In the West, that means the Lakers, Rockets, Blazers, Jazz and even the Thunder are going to start losing more – in the Thunders case they are definitely not going to challenge the Warriors season, they are only 2 games ahead of the Pistons right now, but they are still going to be a top 4 team, just not one who is THAT good, they are slipping from “greatest team ever” to “easy top 4 team”. Not a huge slide in the grand scheme of things but still one to expect. Blazers and Jazz made some early season noise but expect them to make up the bottom 4. The Lakers roster construction has me clocking them as barely a play-in team without Luka, and I guess 8-10 spot with him. This Lakers roster does nothing for me, its very unbalanced. The Rockets are going to lose KD for injuries more and more as the season goes on, and they are too thin at the guard spot. I have them top 8 due to Sengun and Amen, but they aren’t making noise.
Western teams who are starting to rise: Warriors, Grizzlies and Mavs. Which makes sense as Dubs are win-now but have a coach who is currently obsessed with losing-now, but he seems to be finally understanding small ball is bad and playing bigs is good. Steph and Jimmy are starting to really gel together too, and Jimmy is helping the rookies more than Draymond ever has. Post’s defense over the last month took a significant leap, he now DOES look like that big they are looking for on the trade/buyout market, like Vuc. Post > Vuc, yeah I said it. They do still need one more big though, as having 9 guards is not ideal roster construction, but Post might be breaking out in front of us, all thanks to Jimmy (having done the same with Bam, who broke out defensively as a big as soon as Jimmy showed up). The Grizzlies had no bigs for the first month and are now finding their level too. The Mavs were always a big question mark, but Flagg is already flashing a mega-superelite ceiling, like a Lebron-level one. Has no real weaknesses, is elite at everything except shooting the 3, and he’s got it up to 30% over his December, also leadership and knowing how to find AD. Flagg is going to ensure the Mavs likely end up at .500 minimum this year.
You’re such a homer. Yea rockets and Lakers are going to fail but a worse team in the Warriors is going to rise. Come back to reality anytime now, the warriors dynasty is OVER, Curry is an old man in basketball terms. The warriors will not win another championship with the Curry core.
^ comments that will age like milk
YDKB, skill issue on your end, buddy. Cry more. Lakers stink.
Glazing the Warriors after all that is nasty work. 15-15 team you are still acting like is in their dynasty days. They are mediocre and will be in the play in again
@amk1920 caring this much about Nov+Dec wins is even nastier work. No one takes this part of the season seriously, only casuals like you do. If you watched these games you would see how unserious Kerr and the refs have been.
Lakers are currently 5th seed in West (tie Wolves at 4/5th)
Rockets are currently 6th seed in West
Prediction
Lakers and Rockets won’t pass the first round of playoffs if they are 5-8 seed.
For Rockets starters
shooting guard can’t shoot
point guard can’t point
power forward has no power
According to Rockets fans, this Rockets team are not better than last year (2nd seed)
Lakers would take down by Wolves again this playoffs if they don’t make a good trade
Exactly, this Rockets team is a bunch of nothing. If they had a real PG they would be top 6, but without FVV, they really aren’t one. Lakers have an even worse roster.