The Los Angeles Lakers hung around with the Detroit Pistons through most of three quarters Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, but an ugly fourth quarter in which they were outscored by 14 points killed what had been a closely contested matchup. One that spiraled into a 128-106 blowout loss.
The fourth quarter seemed to be an accumulation of frustration for the Lakers over turnovers, officiating and their recent stretch of injuries as LA has now lost four out of its last five games.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during warmsups prior to the game against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 21, 2025 in Los Angeles.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during warmsups prior to the game against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 21, 2025 in Los Angeles.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers warms up prior to the game against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 21, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic against the Phoenix Suns during an NBA preseason game at Mortgage Matchup Center on Oct. 14, 2025.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic reacts after a play during the fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 19, 2025.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) and guard Austin Reaves (15) react after a basket against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena on Feb .10, 2025.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic reacts during the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at American Airlines Center on Dec. 3, 2024.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic reacts to a foul call during the second half against the Indiana Pacers at the American Airlines Center on Nov. 4, 2024.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic celebrates with teammates after a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center on May 18, 2024
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic celebrates a basket as Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel reacts during the first half at Footprint Center on Dec. 25, 2023
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic drives to the basket as San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) defends during the second half at American Airlines Center on Dec. 23, 2023.
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See Luka Doncic’s summer transformation
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic in action during the game against the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Center on Oct. 12, 2018.
Lakers let mistakes, Pistons’ physicality get to them
“I think there’s probably a level of frustration when you’re turning the ball over and you’re feeling like you’re getting fouled,” Redick told reporters. “There’s, frustration there, for sure, but I mean, again, I said it in here. We said it this morning: they’re going to foul every possession. It’s just, you got to play through it.”
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The Lakers turned the ball over 21 times and while the Pistons themselves had 20 turnovers on the night, they capitalized on the Lakers’ mistakes with 31 points off turnovers compared to just 19 from LA.
“We got to definitely match their physicality. That’s the whole point,” said Luka Doncic, who led the game in scoring and assists with 30 and 11, but also led with eight turnovers. “We got to match how they play. You seen the refs let it go, so we should’ve played with more physicality for sure.”
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LeBron James makes 2025-26 NBA season debut as Lakers host Jazz
LeBron James warms up before the game against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena.
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LeBron James makes 2025-26 NBA season debut as Lakers host Jazz
LeBron James warms up before the game against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena.
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LeBron James makes 2025-26 NBA season debut as Lakers host Jazz
LeBron James warms up before the game against the Utah Jazz.
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LeBron James makes 2025-26 NBA season debut as Lakers host Jazz
A look at the shoes of LeBron James.
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LeBron James makes 2025-26 NBA season debut as Lakers host Jazz
LeBron James warms up.
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LeBron James makes 2025-26 NBA season debut as Lakers host Jazz
By making his 2025-26 season debut, LeBron James broke the NBA record for most seasons played (23), surpassing the mark he and Hall of Fame guard Vince Carter had held.
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LeBron James makes 2025-26 NBA season debut as Lakers host Jazz
LeBron James replaced Marcus Smart in the Lakers’ starting lineup and will line up alongside Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura.
Lakers still searching for identity amid injuries
Postgame, Redick gave credit to the Pistons’ size and athleticism, telling reporters that level of physicality “is in their DNA.” As for the Lakers, he’s still trying to figure out what their identity actually is as the calendar flips to 2026.
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Recalling a conversation he had with Phil Jackson at the beginning of last season, Redick recalled Jackson saying that he knew who his team was by Thanksgiving. That’s harder to do when the team is as plagued by injuries as this year’s Lakers have been.
LeBron James’ season debut was delayed until Nov. 18 due to sciatica nerve pain. Currently, the Lakers are down Rui Hachimura (calf), Gabe Vincent (back), and Austin Reaves (calf). The absence of Reaves, who is averaging a career-high 26.6 points, 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, has been especially felt.
“We haven’t had a full team all year. I don’t know, maybe one game we’ve had a full roster, maybe even not,” James told reporters. “We got some very important guys out right now, and obviously I started the year being out. Having our all-star two guard (Reaves) out and Rui’s now out, Gabe’s been out for a minute, Jaxson (Hayes) just came back. There’s been a lot of in and out, so that’s been very hard to just get a rhythm and chemistry on the floor with guys that you know you’re gonna play with every night. … But it’s still no excuse.
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“We still need to go out and execute, and I think we did that tonight. … The better team won.”
It’s worth noting that Doncic went into the locker room with trainers during the third quarter on Tuesday and emerged with a wrap on his left shoulder while appearing to grimace in pain, though he did return to the game. There has been no update on his status as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We have had a lot of stops and starts,” Redick said. “And we’ve tried to — not just the staff, I’m saying, our team. The players, staff, everybody — we’ve really tried to play the right way every night and have the right intent. The flow of lineups and rotations and all that has been challenging for everybody, not just the coaches. It’s a challenge for the players.
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“… I think that’s hard to figure out with this team right now.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lakers plagued by injuries, officiating and identity crisis after loss