The Los Angeles Lakers’ recent decline continued unabated after a poor performance at home against the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day. They once again allowed their opponents to shoot well over 50 percent, and they were severely outrebounded — 48-25, to be exact — leading to a 119-96 loss to Kevin Durant and Co.
Head coach J.J. Redick made his disgust clear during the postgame press conference and accused his players of not caring enough. Forward Jake LaRavia went into more detail, saying the team might be “disjointed” when asked why they aren’t playing together.
“I couldn’t tell you,” LaRavia said when asked why the Lakers weren’t together. “I think there may be a disconnect right now. But we’ll get on track. Having this meeting, what JJ is talking about, and hopefully the discomfort of it will keep us moving in the right direction.”
Defensively, opponents are breaking the Lakers apart by passing the ball extra and chasing them down in the middle and late rotations, especially around the rim and on 3-point shooters. As a result, Los Angeles has lost six of its past 10 games.
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As a result, during this period, the team ranked 24th in points allowed per game, 27th in fast break points allowed, and 28th in defensive efficiency. The Lakers are fourth in the Western Conference with a 19-10 record, but they are only half a game ahead of the sixth-place Rockets, which means they will likely fall into the tournament if they don’t get back on track soon.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Jake LaRavia: Lakers could be ‘disconnected’ now
