Mark the calendar: It took nine days to make a seven-game trip before defending champion Los Angeles Lakers showed signs of being vulnerable this season, in Thursday’s 107-92 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
LA added just 34 points in the second half (the least scored by the Lakers anywhere since LeBron James joined the franchise in 2018) and was beaten 25-14 in the fourth quarter by a Pistons team that went enter the night with the second worst record in the league at 4-14.
The Lakers went goalless for nearly seven minutes (from 8:40 of the fourth quarter until there was 1:50 on the clock) as the Pistons’ lead increased from one to 17. followed 0 by 12 droughts with two turnovers when Detroit took control.
“I think we weren’t connected defensively to the level we were supposed to be,” said Kyle Kuzma, whose 22 points and 10 rebounds damaged the Lakers ’late collapse. “Individually, everyone made mistakes and collectively with those who made the team’s defense suffer a bit.”
This team defense, which ranked No. 1 in the NBA through Thursday, played without Anthony Davis, last season’s Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, who had a bruised right thigh.
Any explanation that might have existed for the poor display, whether it was Davis ’absence, the buildup of road fatigue, or the challenge of a back to back, James didn’t want to hear.
“I mean, we still have games to do, work to do,” he said. “We have to keep improving and you really can’t understand the idea of how many days you are on the road or whatever. All the teams do it. All the teams make a long road trip. We are professionals.
“We have to keep our minds fresh, keep our bodies as fresh as we can to go there and organize a full 48-minute game, or about 48 minutes. Obviously, we haven’t done the last two games, and we just have to be best saturday “.
Coach Frank Vogel challenged last year’s Lakers team not to leave consecutive games all season, and this year has remained as part of the team’s culture. Los Angeles overcame the fourth quarter of the season before failing the mission, and lost to Detroit one night after falling to Philadelphia.
Consecutive losses also affected the Lakers ’perfect 10-0 record to start the season, which had set a franchise record. They are now 10-2, with Saturday in Boston and Monday in Atlanta to finish the road trip.
Although no one sounded the alarm, both Kuzma and James lamented how the Lakers are still trying to find a fixed rotation and, due to lack of training time, end up experimenting with new lineups in the games. .
“We’re a new team,” Kuzma said. “We’re playing like 14 people. It’s a difficult situation. Viouslybviament, we’re working things out. The coaching staff is trying to figure out the rotations and figure out what works best, which players can play certain formations. And that’s just the point of the season. where we are “.
Kuzma offered a 10,000-foot outlook, saying the losses, even bad ones like Thursday’s, are “just the beauty of the trip” and that the regular season wants to be a rehearsal to fix the problems before the playoffs. And, as the Lakers ’road trip extends beyond a week and a half, he acknowledged the real challenge of constant travel. “It’s still a pandemic here,” he said.
Vogel got underway, saying he has to do a better job putting his players in a successful position, but he finally considered the night as something that won’t baffle his team.
“We’ll be fine,” Vogel said. “You have nights like this in a long season. We’ll be fine. We’ll bounce back. We’re not happy, none of us are happy with how we played tonight, but yes.”