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Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Reasons for their recent struggles

By Donny McHenry

NEW ORLEANS, LA - FEBRUARY 14: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers removes his jacket after being ejected during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on February 14, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - FEBRUARY 14: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers removes his jacket after being ejected during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on February 14, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
DALLAS, TX – FEBRUARY 10: Isaiah Thomas /

Isaiah Thomas

The common fan can make the observation that since Isaiah Thomas has joined the team, the defense has been non-existent. Just blame Isaiah Thomas, right? As I said, he has the worst defensive rating in the losing streak, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. He actually led the team in defensive rating in his first Lakers game against the Mavericks. In addition, he was ejected in the Pelicans game after only 5 minutes played. This was during an atrocious quarter from the Lakers where they gave up 46 points. His defensive rating for those 5 minutes was 185.5, which balloons his defensive rating average for the 3 games.

The excuses made for Isaiah are definitely valid, but let’s not sugar coat it. The 5’8” guard is a liability on the defensive end. In addition to this, the team’s defensive plan has probably been hurt with the brand new lineup changes due to the trade. It’s hard for a young team to adjust on the fly to losing two major rotation players while adding in two defensive liabilities into the lineups. They only got two practices in with the new players, and hopefully with more practice, the defensive will improve.

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