PHOENIX — The idea, JJ Redick said pregame, would be for the Lakers to get back to the plan he set in place when he became the team’s head coach. That plan, to take the long view and favor the process of the results helped the team win 10 of its first 14 games.
“We’re all competitive. I’m competitive. We have to be about the process and doing things the right way and building that consistency,” he said pregame Tuesday night. “I believe that if our group does that, we’ll have good results and results we can live with.”
But after two days of hammering home a need to be physical, two days after the Lakers were badly beaten in a third quarter by a rival where they “stopped playing” in their own coach’s assessment, they were again unfelt on the defensive end.
Facing a potent team in Phoenix, one that the Lakers are fighting with both in the West and in their NBA Cup group, the Lakers were again badly outclassed in the second half, losing 127-100 to the Suns.
They’ve lost three straight games.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 25 points and 15 rebounds while LeBron James had 18 and 10 assists, though he had five turnovers. D’Angelo Russell scored 16 off the bench, his first game in double figures since Nov. 15.
The Lakers play their final group game in the NBA Cup on Friday at home against Oklahoma City, needing a win (and likely a loss by the Suns to the Spurs) to have a chance at the knockout stages because of point-differential tiebreakers.
“As you’re competing, it’s nearly impossible to think about the big picture when you’re getting your ass kicked,” Austin Reaves said. “ But when it’s all over, you sit down, you think about it, and we’re 10-7 right now. I believe we’re still in a good spot. … But in the moment, it sucks because who wants to even think about the big picture in the moment? You’re thinking about trying to win a game.”
Just as in their loss against Denver, the Lakers were raced off the floor, their body language as awful as their performance. After the Denver beat them 37-15 in the third Saturday, the Lakers lost the third to the Suns 36-18, their spirit again looked broken, even if Redick said his team kept competing.
“Our guys kept playing. Our guys kept playing,” he repeated. “It was a tough night.”
Maybe Redick saw more than the score suggested, the Lakers offense and defense taking turns at putting the other at a disadvantage. In the third, the Lakers made only six-of-21 from the field, including two-of-11 from three.
The Suns shot 60.9% in the third.
“Once again we just didn’t score in the third quarter. And our defensive communication was lax. And they were able to get some open shots and open dunks and shots at the rim. And then, now we got guys in rotation and they’re sprinting out to their shooters for 3s. I think our competitive spirit is always there every night. I think no one comes out and says, ‘We don’t want to compete,’” Davis said. “But I think it can look that way or seem that way when we’re just not on the same page because we’re not talking. So we just got to get better at that part of it.”
The fight the Lakers lacked in the second half did materialize early, even after Kevin Durant, returning from a two-plus week injury absence, opened the game with a three. But the focus wasn’t there often enough for long enough.
They botched a coverage at the end of the first quarter to give Phoenix an open three. They allowed an uncontested layup at the end of the third.
“We may have to just look at some things defensively, particularly against really good offensive teams, about what our overall sort of strategies are,” Redick said after. “They kind of got whatever they wanted.”
The team is allowing 118.2 points per 100 possessions, fourth-most in the league.
“We’re at the bottom of the pack,” Davis said. “I’m not saying, ‘Oh man, top five, top three.’ We should be able to get to the middle of the pack and that can change a lot for us. So we’ll just take it one game at a time and try to have some pride in ourselves defensively.”
The litany of Lakers’ defensive issues — transition problems, keeping teams off the glass, playing with force on the perimeter — added toothlessness at the rim when the Suns routinely went to the basket while the Lakers stood around and watched.
The game only got worse from there, Redick pulling the starters midway through the fourth. And in one final blow, center Jaxson Hayes, back in the lineup after missing two weeks with an ankle injury, appeared to re-aggravate the issue late before he limped toward the locker room.
The Lakers have a short turnaround, playing against the Spurs on Wednesday in San Antonio.
“You’re frustrated at times, obviously, but you never get frustrated with the process,” James said. “That is what it is. And just keep working.”
