The idea, JJ Redick said pregame, would be for the Lakers to get back to the plan he set in place when he became the team’s head coach. That plan, to take the long view and favor the process of the results helped the team win 10 of its first 14 games.
“We’re all competitive. I’m competitive. We have to be about the process and doing things the right way and building that consistency,” he said pregame Tuesday night. “I believe that if our group does that, we’ll have good results and results we can live with.”
But after two days of hammering home a need to be physical, two days after the Lakers were badly beaten in a third quarter by a rival where they “stopped playing” in their own coach’s assessment, they were again unfelt on the defensive end.
Facing a potent team in Phoenix, one that the Lakers are fighting with both in the West and in their NBA Cup group, the Lakers were again badly outclassed in the second half, losing 127-100 to the Suns.
They’ve lost three straight games.
The Lakers play their final group game in the NBA Cup on Friday at home against Oklahoma City, needing a win to have a chance at the knockout stages because of point-differential tiebreakers.
Just as in their loss against Denver, the Lakers were raced off the floor, their body language as awful as their performance. After the Denver beat them 37-15 in the third Saturday, the Lakers lost the third to the Suns 36-18, their spirit again broken.
Read more: Lakers look to ramp up defense with return to physical play
The fight the Lakers lacked in the second half did materialize early, even after Kevin Durant, returning from a two-plus week injury absence, opened the game with a three. But the focus wasn’t there often enough for long enough.
They botched a coverage at the end of the first quarter to give Phoenix an open three. They allowed an uncontested layup at the end of the third.
The litany of Lakers’ defensive issues — transition problems, keeping teams off the glass, playing with force on the perimeter — added toothlessness at the rim when the Suns routinely went to the basket while the Lakers stood around and watched.
The game only got worse from there, Redick pulling the starters midway through the fourth. And in one final blow, center Jaxson Hayes, back in the lineup after missing two weeks with an ankle injury, appeared to re-aggravate the issue late before he limped toward the locker room.
The Lakers have a short turnaround, playing against the Spurs on Wednesday in San Antonio.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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