Lakers: Frank Vogel Says LA's Poor Offense Affected Defense in Memphis Loss
The Lakers four-game winning streak came to a close Sunday evening at Crypto.com Arena. Los Angeles dropped the final game of their five-game homestand to Memphis 127-119. The Grizzlies defense stifled the Lakers starting unit for most of the night. Head coach Frank Vogel thinks the Lakers poor offense directly led to poor defense.
“I thought this was one of those games where we let our misses at the basket affect our defensive focus. When we weren’t scoring, we lost focus on what we were doing on the defensive side. That can’t happen”
The unit of Lebron, Westbrook, Monk, Bradley, and Johnson that had fueled the Lakers winning streak never got out of second gear.
Collectively, the Lakers starting five converted just 37.9% of their field goal attempts. As a team, the Lakers finished the game with a 46.4% field goal percentage.
When the shots aren’t falling, the defense must pick up the slack. That did not happen.
The Memphis offense shot 54% from the field and generated 33 assists. They also had six players score in double digits. Los Angeles did a fine job of limiting Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant to 16 points, but the Lakers lackluster defense allowed Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane to combine for 44 points.
Memphis entered the fourth quarter with 107 points on the scoreboard.
Defense has been and will continue to be a point of emphasis for the Lakers. On Sunday night, they let one side of the ball affect the other.
