The LA Lakers suffered a shock to the system when they were beaten 146-115 at home to the Chicago Bulls.
Even with LeBron James and Rui Hachimura returning to the line-up, the LA Lakers suffered an off-night, and the Chicago Bulls made them pay.
Coby White’s 36 point night went a long way to the Lakers’ worst defensive performance of the season, with 146 points against, acting as a warning shot to the team as they build towards the playoffs.
The Lakers have shown considerable defensive improvement in 2025, with head coach JJ Redick praised, along with 40-year-old LeBron James for his actions at both ends of the court.
Heading into a road trip starting with facing the Orlando Magic, the 43-27 Lakers have to re-stock and get their act together, in order to at least hold onto their fourth seeding, and try and overtake the third ranked 45-27 Denver Nuggets.
The LA Lakers’ bad performance acted as a warning about what can happen if they under-perform, there are teams quipped in the NBA with the capability to ruthlessly expose them.
But should there be a snap judgment based on the loss? Stephen A. Smith argues there are mitigating circumstances for the heavy home reverse.
Speaking to ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith was asked who he regarded as the biggest challenger in the West to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and whether the Lakers’ loss would prompt him to reconsider the Denver Nuggets as a bigger threat.
He believes the Lakers are still best positioned to threaten OKC, commenting: “I’m not as concerned about the Lakers defense as they gave us reason to believe because of their horrific performance against Chicago.
“Remember, it was the seventh game in 10 days, and Hachimura and LeBron was back in the lineup together. And so you’re talking about them getting themselves re-acclimated.
“LeBron get re-acclimated with Luka on the court. Luka not being able to rely on him to do but so much defensively, because that ain’t what he’s there for.
“And the rest of their personnel obviously had a bad game, but we can’t summarily dismiss what we’ve seen from the Lakers defensively over the last three months, where they’ve been one of the top two defensive teams in all the basketball and so I see that.”
Doncic had admitted post-game he made some mistakes with turnovers in the game, which also saw Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis blow past him on a dunk.
The Denver Nuggets have had the Lakers’ number in the post-season in recent years, but with the addition of Luka Doncic, the team has taken a step forward.
Smith said he remains unconvinced about Denver Nuggets despite respecting some of the talent they have on their roster.
He said: “I see Denver’s lack of depth as problematic. That’s how I feel about Denver when it comes to the Lakers.
“We understand what Denver is capable of in a night and night out basis with Jokic and Jamal Murray. I can’t dismiss that. Can’t dismiss Porter Jr. Can’t dismiss Aaron Gordon. I can’t stop raving about Russell Westbrook, and the job that he has done for them as an energizing bunny coming off the bench.
“But I just think that at the end of the day. Their absence of depth compared to what they had during their championship season is going to come back to plague them, it did against Minnesota in the Western Conference [last season].”
