Luka Doncic Calls for Urgent Changes After Lakers’ Third Straight Blowout
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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers suffered their third consecutive lopsided defeat on Christmas Day, falling 123-100 to the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena. After the game, guard Luka Doncic said the team must make immediate adjustments to halt the slide.
“I don’t know what has to change, but something definitely needs to change,” Doncic said in the locker room. “We’ve been blown out the last three games. It looks terrible, but we have to figure it out. Everybody has to talk about it.”
The Lakers were beaten by 15 points by the L.A. Clippers last Saturday and by 24 points by the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday before the 23-point Christmas loss. Doncic, who missed the first two defeats, acknowledged the group’s lack of fight and reiterated head coach JJ Redick’s postgame comments that forthcoming discussions could be “uncomfortable.”
“It’s not necessary to have uncomfortable moments to be great, but obviously we’re going through it right now,” he said. “We’ve got to challenge everybody, starting with ourselves and then our teammates. There’s no way we should be playing like this.”
Forward Jake LaRavia also sensed issues within the roster, saying, “There might be a disconnect right now. We’ll have this meeting JJ was talking about, and hopefully the uncomfortability of it can move us in the right direction.”
Los Angeles sits in a crowded Western Conference, where an extended skid could mean the difference between a top-three seed and a Play-In Tournament berth. The Lakers will search for answers before their next game, looking to regain momentum and address concerns about defense, speed and effort.
Source: Lakers Nation
