The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Golden State Warriors tonight for their third and final matchup of the regular season. The game went exactly as expected, a high-intensity affair where no fan could afford to divert their eyes from the screen. However, the contest swayed in the Warriors’ favor once Anthony Davis exited the game. The Lakers defense couldn’t keep up with the Warriors offense, and it clearly showed. The Warriors outscored the Lakers 72-57 in the 2nd and 3rd Quarters. After the game, Stephen A. Smith talked about the same as well.
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Discussing the game on NBA Countdown, Malika Andrews asked Stephen A. Smith to share his views from the game. He spoke of Klay Thompson’s brilliant game off the bench, Stephen Curry’s return from injury, and the Lakers defense.
“I saw a Los Angeles Lakers team that still can’t seem to play defense. They haven’t been able to play defense since the All-Star Break. It’s like they left their game in Indianapolis!”
Smith continued by talking about how the Lakers have been 28th defensively since the All-Star Break. In a month when the Lakers should have focused on pushing and getting to the 6th seed, they’re instead battling it out with the Warriors to retain the 9th seed. Tonight’s loss to the Warriors has pushed the Lakers down to 29th position according to defensive rating.
The Lakers are still 5th in offensive rating since the All-Star Break, but their defense has taken a huge toll. This is something that is troubling, especially for a team that aspires to try and replicate the kind of post-season run they had last year. Comparitively, the Lakers were 4th in defensive rating last year post the All-Star Break, which helped them make their playoff run to the Western Conference Finals.
One of the factors for this could be the injuries the Lakers are dealing with. Jarred Vanderbilt has missed quite some time, and so have Cam Reddish and Gabe Vincent. All three of them could provide a boost to the Lakers defensively and not having them is hurting the team. However, it remains to be seen how Darvin Ham and the team focus on the task at hand and figure out how to straighten out the defense for the remaining 14 games.
