LeBron James says the Lakers' struggles stem from turnovers, defensive lapses, and injuries that have kept the team from finding rhythm and consistency.
The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to close out the calendar year, losing four of their last five games, including a 128-106 defeat to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.
December was particularly rough for the Lakers on defense. They finished the month with the second-worst defensive efficiency in the NBA, ranking 29th overall. When asked about the team's defensive struggles, LeBron James was candid.
"I don't have the numbers in front of me," James said in the locker room.
Pressed further on where the team is struggling, he added:
"I thought defensively tonight we had moments, but as I said, it's going to be hard to defend pick-sixes. You know, we had too many pick-sixes where we turn the ball over, it's hard to get back, you're not getting back, teams are running on us, they get a lot of transition points.
"Turning the ball over, sometimes offensive rebounds, things of that nature. We just gotta get better on that end of the floor."
Credit AP - Scanpix
Injuries have also played a major role in the Lakers' challenges this season.
Currently, two starters are sidelined: Rui Hachimura will miss another week with a calf strain, and Austin Reaves is out for at least a month with a grade 2 strain in his left calf.
"Well, we haven't had a full team all year," James noted. "Maybe one game we've had a full roster, maybe even not. We've got some very important guys out right now, and obviously, an All-Star being out.
"Not having our All-Star two guard out, Rui's now out, and Gabe's been out for a minute, Jaxson just came back, you know, it's been a lot of in and out. So, it's very hard to kind of get a rhythm, with chemistry on the floor with guys that you know you're going to play with every night, guys you know you're going to come in with the subs and patterns and things like that, but there's no excuse.
"We still gotta go out and execute, and I think we did that tonight. I thought, as I said, the turnovers were too many pick-sixes, but we came in, we played hard, we executed, and the better team tonight won."
Against Detroit, LeBron had 17 points while making history as just the 12th player in NBA history to play at age 41 or older. He also appeared in his 1,577th career game, second only to Robert Parish's 1,611.
The Lakers now sit at 20-11 on the season.
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