The 107-99 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies was a fourth defeat in the last six games for the Los Angeles Lakers. After seemingly turning a corner and beginning to raise their level of play, injuries and inconsistencies on defense have hurt Luke Walton’s team.
Losing at home to the Grizzlies, who had lost five straight games and could potentially be battling the Lakers for playoff positioning later in the season, is one they would probably like to have back. Walton didn’t mince words following the game.
“It’s a frustrating loss. Those are the lumps we talk about,” Walton said. “Home games, games we need to win, giving up 35 points in the fourth, give them credit for hitting shots — they were 8-for-9 from three — but those threes down the stretch, we messed up coverages and didn’t communicate.”
The Lakers seemed to be making strides in a lot of ways, but Walton felt Sunday’s loss was a step backwards and believed his team got what they deserved. “All the things that we work on, we work on, we work on. We get better, but for some reason tonight we didn’t have that in us to do down the stretch,” he said.
“They out-rebounded us, we had more turnovers than them. Honestly, we didn’t really deserve to win tonight’s game anyway, and then they caught fire. We’ll learn and we’ll move on.”
As Walton usually does, he did take time to point out some of the positives of the night, but in the end, felt the Lakers let one slip away that they could’ve taken.
“I thought we were fine early in the game. I mean, we weren’t playing great but I thought our starters did a nice job,” Walton acknowledged.
“I thought Zu had done a nice job. I thought there was moments that selfishness crept into what we were doing, but we finished with 27 assists. Guys were trying to make the extra pass, which we’re always on them about. We didn’t do enough to take control of the game, that was for sure.”
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