It’s almost refreshing that after a losing effort against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers can break down specific mistakes and adjustments. After the previous two blowouts, there was almost nothing for Anthony Davis and the Lakers to say other than a complete lack of effort and execution.
Friday’s game was certainly different. L.A. hung tough with a red-hot Hawks team on the search for their sixth consecutive win. The game was pushed to overtime, and it took a last second shot from Trae Young to seal the victory for Atlanta. While the mistakes were different, it looked similar to their loss to the Orlando Magic instead of the last two outings.
Some of those mistakes came in big moments on the defensive end. Davis spoke about where things went wrong on his end while still applauding the effort level from the Lakers, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Based off the last couple games that we played, Minnesota and Miami, it was a good bounce-back for us. Some of the defensive communication we kind of messed up a little bit tonight. We gave up maybe three or four 3s off of it, Trae got a couple off of it, he hit some of the bigs in the pocket. I think overall we had some carryover, but you know, a turnover, a misread by me on the entry pass by LeBron at the elbow. He makes a hell of a play, couldn’t get us the ball back. He throws it in, we’ve got no timeouts, I’ve got three guys surrounding me. I was just thinking not turn it over and get a jump ball, tip it to where our guys could get it. Their player runs all the way around and affects LeBron getting the ball and Trae makes a big shot. But as far as the carryover I think we’re better.”
A game-wide issue was the Lakers’ switching defense, a problem that Davis believes could improve with a very minor adjustment.
“We’ve just got to be more physical with the guy who’s setting the screen. A team like tonight, Okongwu, Bogi and Johnson, a lot of those guys slip on screens they’re not really setting them. And that causes confusion. So if we’re being physical with the guy who’s setting the screen to force the switch for us defensively, and if we don’t do that, we either get two to the ball or we get two to the screener and then they’re playing advantage basketball. So just got to clean that up.”
The Lakers were battered during a very difficult stretch of schedule, and while it doesn’t necessarily get easier in a Western Conference filled with great teams, the Lakers are learning more and more what type of team they are and what they need to do to maximize that.
JJ Redick frustrated by Lakers’ late-game execution
The red-hot Hawks were simply too much for the Lakers down the stretch, beating them with late-game execution to grab the win in overtime, their sixth victory in a row. LeBron James and Anthony Davis were both phenomenal in the loss, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Trae Young and the Hawks’ clutch shot-making.
When asked about comparisons between this game and an earlier loss to the Orlando Magic, Redick spoke about the issues that are plaguing the Lakers in close games late.
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