Many people were concerned about the Los Angeles Lakers‘ defensive shortcomings coming into this season, and Wednesday’s 132-119 loss to the San Antonio Spurs was a reality check about how serious those shortcomings are right now.
In that loss, the Lakers gave up 27 fast-break points and allowed the Spurs to shoot 17-of-38 from 3-point range. It was a constant string of transition opportunities, dribble penetration and 3-point attempts for San Antonio, and Los Angeles was caught flat-footed against that type of attack.
Veteran guard Marcus Smart told the media what happened when the team held a video session on Friday to go over its defensive breakdowns against San Antonio.
“Nobody likes to go watch film after you get your ass kicked. It’s tough, ’cause the film never lies. It exposed us a lot, which we already knew….The scouting report against us is we’re not guarding people. And if we want to be great in this league and do what we’re trying to do, you have to be able to guard.”
Right now, the Lakers rank 21st in defensive rating, 23rd in fast-break points per game allowed, 25th in opponents’ points off turnovers per game and 27th in opponents’ 3-point shooting percentage. Expect other teams to give the Lakers a steady diet of transition basketball and dribble penetration until L.A. does something to prevent opponents from excelling in those categories.