The LA Lakers have now lost three straight games, with the latest loss coming on the road at the Orlando Magic.
A big problem plaguing the LA Lakers has been the relentless schedule. They recently played seven games in 10 days, and have just embarked on a road trip.
The team’s defense had been markedly improved since the All-Star break, but this has fallen off dramatically in recent games.
After the Bulls scored 146 points on the Lakers, Orlando’s beat them 118-106, with the team unable to keep up with Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, especially in an explosive third quarter from the home team.
One of the big worries about the LA Lakers trading Anthony Davis away to acquire Luka Doncic was the impact it would have on the team’s defense.
JJ Redick did a great initial job of actually improving the team’s defense, but NBA analyst Ric Bucher warns reality of the brutal schedule is catching up with the team.
Ric Bucher pointed out the extra effort the players had to produce to defend without a traditional big, and argues it is not possible to keep this up, amid the intense demands.
He told FS1’s Speak: “There’s really only one day from now until the end of the season, that they could potentially have a practice, and this is one of the challenges that they face.
“They are now coming to terms with, without Anthony Davis, if they’re going to play defense without a true rim protector, then everybody has to be on point, and everybody has to be rotating, and they have to be synchronized.
“And what I’ve seen in the last few games is that defensively, they’re kind of coming apart a little bit, and I just don’t know that they can play the same level of defense unless everybody is committed to it.”
In recent games the team has not been as committed, with Luka Doncic making the worrying admission the team got a little bit ‘too satisfied’ with how it was all going.
Bucher added that the Lakers’ struggles are compounded by health issues preventing three of their top stars being at 100 per cent.
“Let’s face it, Austin Reaves doesn’t look good physically. LeBron James is dealing with whatever he’s dealing with. Luka Doncic is still trying to get back into shape.
“I mean, it’s great when you have the euphoria of your getting a Luka Doncic into the mix, and you get excited, and the ball is moving around and everybody’s touching it, and everybody defensively is going to play, but now you get to the grind, and I just need to see that they can get back to that.
“And I don’t know how you get back to that when you don’t have any time to collectively rest.”
Jaxson Hayes and Rui Hachimura have both missed games recently too, while over in Dallas, Anthony Davis made his long awaited return from injury in the team’s win over the Brooklyn Nets.
