The Los Angeles Lakers suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
If you were able to watch the entirety of Wednesday night’s game as a Los Angeles Lakers fan, you deserve some sort of award.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost horribly to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 133-96. The Lakers actually had the lead in the early moments, 10-0. The 1st quarter ended 26-26 and once the 2nd quarter started, it was all downhill from there.
Lakers’ Defensive Failure
The Lakers didn’t do much right during the 48 minutes of play on Wednesday, but the worst part of it all was their defensive play. Looking deeper at the numbers behind the Thunder’s 133 point explosion, you see they actually shot 60.1 percent from the field!
The Lakers defensive rating was also the worst of the entire season, 11.1 more than their 2nd-worst game. This all resulted in the Thunder’s big three of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony all scoring 20+ points. Thunder rookie Terrance Ferguson even got in on the fun, pouring in 24 points of his own.
The Lakers defensive woes last night and of late would surprise you from looking at their early season numbers. Their defensive rating in October and November was 101.5, while their rating since December started is 115.7.
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The drop is the main reason for their recent skid and may be attributed to the injuries to Brook Lopez and Lonzo Ball. With that being said, Lakers should have enough talent to keep a team far under 60.1 percent from the field.
Team Reaction
After a blowout loss, it’s always interesting to see the teams’ post-game reactions. Luke Walton was visibly upset in his post-game press conference and had this to say.
"“We need to realize that this league isn’t about offense, and this league isn’t about getting numbers or getting shots. It’s about playing basketball and playing defense and setting screens and focusing on all of those things. Because the way that allows us to play out in transition, everyone’s going to get shots, everyone’s going to get their opportunities, but it sure felt tonight that we were focused on the wrong things as a group.”"
Kyle Kuzma was also upset in his post-game interview. He mentioned a few times that the Lakers “gave up” and also mentioned the word “effort” a handful of times. He also talked about the lack of “resistance” on defense. These were all themes that Luke Walton also spoke on.
After all of the frustration, Kuzma took to Twitter after the game to give the Lakers’ fans some much-needed encouragement.
Were gonna figure this out promise that
— kuz (@kylekuzma) January 4, 2018
Next: 3 Most Important Questions For Lakers In 2018
The Lakers have an easier schedule coming up, which would be a perfect time to start figuring it out.