Marcus Smart Calls for Greater Defensive Urgency as Lakers Struggle
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The Los Angeles Lakers signed veteran guard Marcus Smart last summer to tighten a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league. After surrendering 135 points to the Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 10, 2025, Smart said the team must raise its intensity on that end of the floor.
“It doesn’t matter who we face—everyone seems to have a career night against us,” Smart told reporters at Spectrum Center in Charlotte. “If an opponent is shooting 20 percent coming in, they shoot 50 percent against us. We have to bring more urgency and impose our will.”
Charlotte’s bigger guards and wings routinely found favorable matchups, a trend Smart traced to opponents “hunting” specific defensive switches. “Teams are doing a great job picking the matchups they want,” he said. “When you play for the Lakers, you’re always the hunted, and we have to figure out how to keep that under control.”
The Lakers now head into a stretch heavy on road games, a sequence Smart views as a chance to regain form. “Our schedule is chaotic, but nobody’s coming to save us,” he said. “We have to dig down and find what we showed against Atlanta.”
Despite recent defensive lapses, Smart remains confident in the team’s direction. “I like where we’re headed,” he added, reiterating faith that the roster can rediscover the edge it displayed earlier in the season.
Source: Lakers Nation
