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Lakers News: L.A.'s Pace Issues Criticized By Russell Westbrook

The Lakers slow start ended up costing them the game

Ryan Menzie

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The win streak came to a screeching halt as the Lakers lost their sixth game of the season to the Jazz. The Lakers defense was put on blast, but most of the momentum was lost during the first half. 

The Lakers offense has come alive since pushing Russell Westbrook to the bench and the Lakers managed to score 64 points in just the first half alone. However, the Jazz stayed relentless and the defense the Lakers have been showing since the beginning of the season soon became nonexistent. 

The Lakers gave up 75 points in the first half which is the exact opposite formula for winning ball games. The pace of the game stuck out like a soar thumb leaving Westbrook to give his thoughts on the slow start to the night (via Spectrum SportsNet). 

"They just stated off playing a lot faster than us. a step slow and it showed. we tried to pick it up in the second half but we put ourselves in a bad position early."

The Lakers show glimpses of their energy, but it doesn't help when one of the starts on your team is a 37 year old LeBron James. This isn't to take away any of the great things he does on the court. but the younger and more energetic teams of the league can easily figure out the formula to stop the Lakers. 

The team needs to get back to playing tough defense, but of course we can refrain from overreacting after just one game. 

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Ryan Menzie
RYAN MENZIE

Ryan Menzie | Lead Contributor Ryan is an LA Native who has grown up praising the greatest athletes LA has had to offer. A love for sports ranging between basketball, football, volleyball and golf, a future Sports Management Masters graduate, and being engulfed into organized sports since seven years old, the passion and love for sports never ends for Ryan. If the words he writes don't paint the full picture of his true fandom, he will find more ways than one to tell the story and be more than willing to open up a nice LA sports debate with you. Favorite Player: Kobe Bryant  Favorite Moment: Kobe Bryant Final Game. Too many moments to choose from between Derek Fishers 0.4 second buzzer beater, the Lakers 3-peat or game seven against Boston, but can't beat a final memory like Kobe's final game. 

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