Here's a statement no one is going to disagree with: the Los Angeles Lakers defense has been terrible. The crazy part about that is just how dreadful it truly looks when bringing a magnifying glass up to the problem that has slowed momentum on a hot start to the season.
December was not a good month for the Lakers. The team went 5-7, being outscored by 94 points on the month as a whole. Four of their five wins were by single digits. Every single one of their seven losses were by double digits. It was an ugly stretch.
If one were to guess that the defense was one of the biggest perpetrators here, they would be correct. The Lakers were one of the worst units on that end of the court in December, ranking in the bottom-five with a putrid mark of 122.4 when it comes to their defensive rating.
Los Angeles surrendered 120.3 points on average during the past month. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that any championship push they may dream of in 2025-26 will require a much better unit on defense than that. As far as New Year's resolutions go, the Lakers have a simple one: don't get absolutely smoked when trying to guard their opponents.
Lakers can't afford to sleepwalk on the defensive end anymore
There are some nuances that immediately stand out with the Lakers and what is making their defense worse. Marcus Smart discussed the matter earlier in the month.
"When we can get people in the halfcourt, set our defense, it makes it easier on us," Smart told the media.
That is one of the ways the Lakers are hurting themselves. Turnovers have led to easy opportunities for their opponents. The Lakers had one of the worst assist-to-turnover ratios of any team in the NBA during the month of December at 1.53. It ranked in the bottom-five.
Giveaways translated to points for their opposition. The Lakers gave up 20.3 opponent points off turnovers in December. That is yet another mark that ranks incredibly close to the bottom of the NBA during that span.
Los Angeles has been terrible with their transition defense in general. They surrendered 18.3 opponent fastbreak points during their December stretch. If you're guessing that once again ranks in the bottom-five of the NBA, give yourself a pat on the back.
The issues are clear for everyone to see. These are all crucial areas for the Lakers to immediately address in 2026. Consistently hoping for their offense to step in and rescue the day has sent the team in the wrong direction.