The Los Angeles Lakers had been showing real signs of life defensively and they looked poised to continue when the team returned home to play the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit entered the night with a sub-.500 record but have been feisty on both ends of the floor thanks to Cade Cunningham and the other young talent on their roster. Against the Lakers, the Pistons showed how much of a gap there is between the two teams regarding speed and athleticism as they ran up and down the court all evening. Detroit won the game 120-110 and snapped Los Angeles’ three-game winning streak.
The Pistons were much more physical than the Lakers were and that led to some sloppy plays from the latter. Los Angeles turned the ball over 20 times compared to just 12 for the Detroit and that ultimately ended up being the difference in the game. The Pistons turned the Lakers’ turnovers into 28 points and that would be too many for the purple and gold to overcome.
After the game, head coach JJ Redick expressed his frustrations with his team’s turnover issue considering they talked about how much Detroit would blitz them before the game.
“Yeah, I mean, we knew ahead of time that they were going to shock or blitz at times,” Redick said. “So, I’m not sure why we were so surprised by that. Then a number of them were playing in tight spaces, and a number of them were just dribbling the ball off a foot. Dribbling the ball out of bounds, passing to Malik Beasley so he can make a three. They capitalized every time we made a mistake.”
Redick was not happy at all with how careless the Lakers were with the basketball and it showed during the game as he called multiple timeouts to address mistakes. However, whatever Redick said didn’t stick as Los Angeles had several unforced turnovers that directly led to Detroit scores.
“I think you have to certain turnovers are just, I don’t know what the exact word is. Certain turnovers are unforced. And then there’s what you’re getting at, is sort of the forced turnovers, and what Dan [Woike] was getting at, which is the forced turnovers. I think just not trying to play in tight spaces. Draw the crowd. Don’t play in a crowd. Did a lot of playing in crowds today.”
It’s a step back for the Lakers as the turnovers hurt their overall defense, an area they had been turning a corner on. It might just be one loss, but it does highlight how difficult it is for Los Angeles to keep up with younger teams who can run out nearly every possession.
Regardless, now Redick and the coaching staff have to find a way to get the team to better value the basketball. On nights when the team’s defense isn’t quite up to snuff, Los Angeles has to learn to limit their mistakes to give themselves a chance to win.
Anthony Davis explains how Lakers have improved defensively
Anthony Davis has been the anchor for the defense the entire season, but recently has gotten more help on that end of the floor. Davis explained that the Lakers have been doing everything better on defense including communicating, being physical and covering for each other.
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