LeBron James Blames Turnovers, Low Energy for Lakers’ 32-Point Loss to Suns
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The Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak ended Monday night with a 123-91 defeat to the Phoenix Suns at Crypto.com Arena, and LeBron James pointed directly to ball security and effort as the culprits.
Los Angeles committed 21 turnovers that Phoenix converted into 32 points, while the Suns held a 28-2 advantage in fast-break scoring. “Turnovers, transition points—obviously on our home floor and against a disruptive defense like that, you can’t turn the ball over that much,” James said postgame. “They were pretty much all pick-sixes.”
The Lakers appeared sluggish on the second night of a back-to-back, although James had rested during Sunday’s game. The 40-year-old forward finished with 10 points, no rebounds and three assists on 3-for-10 shooting in 31 minutes. “They were a step ahead of us, for sure,” he acknowledged. “We looked like we could’ve had a little bit more energy against a team that played that way, so they took advantage of that.”
Despite the loss, which dropped Los Angeles to 15-5, James said one poor performance doesn’t alter the broader outlook. “It’s a long NBA season,” he noted. “That’s a very good team over there, and they took us out of what we wanted to do. We have to learn from that.”
The Lakers now embark on a three-game East Coast trip. James expects the travel to sharpen the team’s focus. “Road trips should always refocus you no matter how you’re playing,” he said. “I don’t think we needed to have a good game tonight to refocus us.”
Source: LakersNation.com
