Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Scores 41, but Lakers Lose to Shorthanded Suns. Is the Season On the Brink?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Lakers lose to a seriously short-handed Phoenix squad, and there is danger that the season is spiraling down fast. That's next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers. First listen to every day, Monday through Friday,

Starting point is 00:00:33 sometimes on weekends, even on holidays, and even now more than once a day, no matter how, where you get your podcast, this one's always going to be free, whether it's Spotify, whether it's Apple, whether you're one of the 37,000-plus subscribers to Lockdown Lakers on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:00:46 You are part of making the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network, and this or any other known universe, Brian Komenetsky, Andy Komenetsky, cover the Lakers for nearly 20 years with the NAC, with the Athletic, with the L.A. Times. And in that time, Andy, I don't think you're going to find many moments

Starting point is 00:01:04 where fans are angrier than they are on this Thursday evening as we sit down to record after the Lakers lose to Phoenix, a wildly undermanned Phoenix team with no Devin Booker, no Dylan Brooks. Joe Jordan Goodwin. No Jordan Goodwin. Jalen Green played horrible. It might have been better off if he didn't play. Very undermaned Phoenix team. The Lakers lose 113 to 110. And similar to the Orlando game, Andy, a game that went away from them in the final seconds, and they had a chance to get a shot to win, couldn't do it. Oh, my, this was an ugly, ugly game that even had they won,

Starting point is 00:01:47 which would have been better, it still would have been pretty awful. I mean, this is a bad performance by this team. It was a bad performance, and we'll get into a lot of the particulars of what made. it bad. But here's what has me concerned about the larger picture. They're on a three-game losing streak, and it hasn't just been three losses. It's been three bad losses, like bad, whether you're talking about in terms of the execution, bad in terms of collective performance,

Starting point is 00:02:20 the case of Boston, bad temperamentally, you know, combination of all three, depending on which game, which quarter, which possession, whatever. But here's how I can tell that there's concern about bad things may be brewing. After the game, JJ went out of his way to be super positive, like very, very positive. And we have seen JJ lose his proverbial bleep after a game when they've played better than they played tonight. I have a feeling, and we're not in Phoenix. This is just observing from the Spectrum Sportsnet postgame broadcast. I got a sense that JJ recognized I don't want to create any further headlines that are already there between the three game losing streak, between the conversation that's been there about Luca, between the conversation that just started about DeAndre Aiton, like, I don't want to add anything.

Starting point is 00:03:28 because I have a hard time believing he was as okay with the game as he expressed afterwards. I agree with you. I think you read the locker room. You're like there are times not to equate, you know, an NBA team with children. But like, you know, it's like when you're a dad with your kids, like you can tell there are times when yelling at them is the right thing to do and just, you know, totally, you know, going scorched earth. and there are times when it's not the right thing to do,

Starting point is 00:03:59 and I think that is exactly right. And I agree with you. A lot of that is based on not turning a game like this, which is already going to be bad and received poorly, and as it should be, into some sort of headline-making crisis moment, even though the season is in peril here. I don't think that part I don't think is overstated.

Starting point is 00:04:25 Do you want to let people know that today's episode, So it's brought to you by five-hour energy. You can have your cake and drink it two birthday cake flavors back. No fork-needed, vanilla cakey flavor, caffeinated kick and no sugar. It's party time. Order now at five-hour energy.com or Amazon. There were times in this game, Andy, where it seemed like the Lakers could use a little five-hour energy.

Starting point is 00:04:43 Oh, apparently, they didn't drink enough crunk juice before the game. Someone hid DeAndre Aten's bottle. So, look, there are a lot of things we need to get into. I mean, Luca certainly bounced back. from his performance against Orlando, 41 points, eight rebounds, eight assists. The surrounding architecture wasn't there. You know, LeBron and AR, neither one of those guys got to 20 points. And so, you know, offense in this game was terrible.

Starting point is 00:05:21 It just was, there were stretches when the Lakers scored, but it wasn't because the offense was really humming. It was just because they managed to either get a little transition going. Luca hit some really hard shots. Somebody else did a little shot making, but the offense, if you just look at what they were doing was terrible. They are completely, Andy, in my mind, out of sync. You and I were talking before the show started. Luke Kinnard off the bench had eight points. All eight of them were inside the arc. He only took one three in this game. He missed it, but he had a few baskets at the rim, I think he might have had at least one midi jumper. And I was saying to you, there were times in this game where it felt like the offense that was

Starting point is 00:06:13 being run with the most intentionality and most sort of clear, straightforward purpose was by Luke Conard, respectfully to Luke Conard, who I think has been fine since he's joined this team, that's not ideal. Like he's, or he's not meant to be a stabilizer in that way. Here's where, look, I mean, the Lakers got off to a slow start.

Starting point is 00:06:40 They quickly, you know, the end of the, you know, the middle of the first quarter, they seemed to kind of click in and took a little lead and it looked like, okay, maybe they're going to, you know, get out of head and all. and it just went back and forth and back and forth. Finally, you know, Phoenix aiding the last Laker lead, you know, in the second half, the Lakers built backup came out, played very well to start third quarter. I think, I don't know if they thought that was going to be the end of it or they just couldn't sustain it.

Starting point is 00:07:06 But what really stuck out to me isn't that they quit in this game because they didn't. This act, I mean, JJ, this part was not blowing smoke. they did continue to fight and play. What stuck out to me is that when they were fighting, there was no sense of an identity, a system, a plan, a whatever, that we can lean on to get us back in this game. It was just undirected effort. And while I appreciate the effort,

Starting point is 00:07:46 it's better than rolling over and not. Like they are, the players are clearly not trying to punt on the season yet. You know, maybe they'll get to that point, but this game is an evidence of that. But when they were putting in that attempt to try to come back from 10 points down with five minutes left,

Starting point is 00:08:06 which they did, tied the game up, or did they, yeah, they did they did. Yeah, they did. They tied it at 110. It was just,

Starting point is 00:08:16 That was before Royce O'Neill hit what was ultimately the go-ahead three. Austin Reeves, they had an ATO that was actually really well drawn up and executed perfectly. Austin got a really good look from the corner, just a little bit long. Yeah. But that's that's what's stuck out. Like there was just, they looked directionless even in their attempt to come back. Well, but I think that directionless is a really good way of putting it because when you said before, you know, they had a lead and, you know, you're not sure what exactly happened. I feel like I do.

Starting point is 00:09:00 I feel like they lost focus. And when this team loses focus or when they start to dial it back, the problem they have is they don't have a foundation to lean on that they can even run at half or three. quarter speed. Like this is part of the problem that this team has in terms of the offense beyond the fact that it is often just ISO, ISO, ISO, Luca running ISO, LeBron running ISO. Somebody throws a screen in there somewhere, but right. But they don't even do that with a whole lot of discipline. Like they don't just, they're a very non-methodical team. And the problem that they, among the problems that they have is because they are so non-methodical and they do not have the discipline to just keep doing what they're doing, whatever it is they

Starting point is 00:09:57 think they're doing. And I think, again, part of the problem is they don't have a foundation that they're even doing. And again, whether that is the byproduct of the style of their three main offensive hubs or the fact that those guys have played so little time together, whether JJ not just laying down, not just the law, but like a clear directive of what they're supposed to be doing, you know, missing a guy like Rui tonight was, he was out with an illness, that can matter just because it's one fewer outlet that you might feel confident with. We talked about before the DeAndre Aiton being the one bright spot against Orlando. Aiton can often be a bellwether of how much are they?

Starting point is 00:10:45 moving the ball. DeAndre Aiton did not take a shot in this game until the second half. Third quarter, yeah. Yeah. So after the break, let's stay on this because, you know, why is this, you know, is JJ Raddock who, you know, they've had moments where they, you know, they look like a, you know, their offense is humming. They do things, dynamic things at the half court. They are so wildly out of sync right now. And, clearly. clearly very frustrated with how these games are going, with how they are playing, what can they do to get things back into focus and everybody moving in the same way on the same page? Because they got to figure it out quickly.

Starting point is 00:11:35 We'll get to it next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by DoorDash. The season's heating up and DoorDash has a way to keep fans in their bag the whole way through whether you're watching the highlights, the tunnel fits, or just your favorite player. DoorDash makes the entire season more fun. Every player has their bag. When DoorDash, fans can have one too. DoorDash keeps your snacks stock, the gear fresh, the watch party vibes on point. There are nights when your team stresses you out, some nights more frequently than others. Let DoorDash become your postgame therapy. Sometimes you just need dessert or some type of comfort food now or snacks or

Starting point is 00:12:17 cups for what I suspect is an alcoholic post-game beverage or just send a friend, a phone charger that you're always, you like to text and complain if you're a Laker fan after the game, but that friend of yours is always a 2%. So you want to maintain the ritual. Send your friend a charger, DoorDash. Tip off to overtime. Stay in your bag. Order on DoorDash, get snacks, drinks, gear.

Starting point is 00:12:42 Whatever gets you through the season delivered right to your door, door dash in your bag, all season long. So what's funny about this game, Andy, is that we are curious to hear what's funny. Our small segment tomorrow, our short segment, whatever people are calling it, the fourth segment, the fast break, whatever it might be.

Starting point is 00:13:04 The camera extra. Is our response to the David McMahon story from Thursday afternoon or Thursday morning, I believe it dropped where, that's all about DeAndre 8. It's got some very colorful minute things in it, whatever,

Starting point is 00:13:19 And so we talk about it. We talk about before the game. And so I was trying to sort of keep like a neutrally like he could play well. He might play poorly. But let's have kind of a big picture thing about Aiton. And it's probably to his benefit that we had this conversation before the game started. Because had we waited, it wouldn't have turned out so good because Clint Capella, if you want to check the bottom score for the Houston Rockets, had a significantly better game than D'Andre Aiton did.

Starting point is 00:13:49 and clapped back at him even on social. Yes, he did. On Instagram, he put a picture of DeAndre Aiton along with that quote from the piece that got the most attention of anything. They're trying to make me Clint Capella, DeAndre Aten saying that in the locker room after the Orlando loss and, well, I believe heading towards the showers. I believe he said like I ain't no Clint Capella and something to that effect. and Clint Capella put up a picture of DeAndre Aitin and Underwood said,

Starting point is 00:14:21 you got two of the best floor generals in the game, my dog, lock in two laughing face emojis. And sorry, man, Capella 1, 8, and 0 in this one. I mean, fair is fair. I stick up for DeAndre in tomorrow in that, in the afternoon segment that we'll post on Friday.

Starting point is 00:14:43 And I maintain that, you know, I'm not, I don't think anything. in there, I said, is outdated or irrelevant at this point. But it was probably nicer than it would have been otherwise. But like you say, like Aiton is in some ways is a bellwether of ball movement. And, you know, if you want to look at ways, like the statistical ways the Lakers lost this game, okay, you're going to look at offensive rebounding.

Starting point is 00:15:10 The Lakers gave up approximately 900 of them, 15, to be precise. that is a lot, especially, you know, you know, it's not like Phoenix shot like 22% from the field or anything. Like they gave up a ton of offensive rebounds. And then they were out.

Starting point is 00:15:25 Which has been a constant, by the way, these games they're losing. They have been giving up a lot of offensive rebounds. And then they were outdone at the three point line. 22-3s for Phoenix, 22, in this economy. 22, 3-pointers.

Starting point is 00:15:44 And only 11. 66 points right there. Also, one of the threes was by Colin Gillespie, one of his six in this game. And it happened, it became a four-point play that was upgraded to a flagrant when DeAndre Aiton went out to challenge it. He was in, clearly in Gillespie's landing space. There was a question about it. Kudos for closing on the play, but you got to be more aware than that.

Starting point is 00:16:09 There was also to a sequence with back-to-back threes. in transition for Grayson Allen, who also had six threes himself. And it came off. One of them was an Austin Reeves turnover. The other one, Austin, here it is, Austin missed a layup. DeAndre could not hang on to the offensive rebound. The loose ball became a Grayson Allen transition three. Then Grayson Allen stripped Austin on a second chance opportunity.

Starting point is 00:16:38 And it was another Grayson Allen transition three. they took a time out and Phoenix had believe gone on an 8-0 run at that point there was the play earlier in the game too where was it who hit the sort of miracle three at the buzzer

Starting point is 00:16:54 on the I think it was Bouillet that hit the bank three yeah okay that sucks you play good defense but it was on a second chance I believe there was that one was also created by an offensive rebound okay bad luck stuff happens

Starting point is 00:17:10 and Vando just kind of flip the ball in. It was stolen. That became a three, I believe, for Gillespie. And the thing about it is, it's like they have these moments, this particular game, and Dan Wakey asked JJ about that after the game, Dame Wakey of the Athletic, like these moments where they just get frustrated by things happening. They turn the ball over.

Starting point is 00:17:39 They make a bad play. And they compounded mistakes all game. They would work and work and work to try to claw their way back into this game, however they could with a terrible offense and no trust in each other, very little fluidity in what they're doing. And you finally get back. And then in 12 seconds, you have back-to-back plays like the ones you described, the Vando turnover, whatever might be.

Starting point is 00:18:09 and all of a sudden you go from down two to down nine. Well, and it's just like two bad plays. And that happened three or four times in this game. This was just one of, they've lost a lot of games this year. And they've gotten their asses kicked in a lot of games this year. But this was one of the first games where I look at it and say,

Starting point is 00:18:29 like they're trying and they don't have, they don't know what to pull from. And, you know, that's a coaching thing. That's a player thing. It's a confidence thing. That is a bunch of guys who are clearly frustrated and not on the same page from a basketball standpoint. Last thing.

Starting point is 00:18:48 And I'll let you go. Sorry. It's just like they, and it's, you wonder. And our friend, it's Doc Franco, you know, that we follow on Twitter. It's been on the show before. Great follow if you, if you're into the Lakers and certainly Luca has made the point a lot over the last week or so. Like they're starting to look like a team that knows they're going to be broken up over this, the summer and where everybody's on a one-year deal trying to figure out where they're going to go next.

Starting point is 00:19:14 And I'm not saying that's exactly where they are. Again, I'm not in that locker room. But it looks like that. And it is- Wouldn't blame them if that's what they're thinking. Absolutely not. Sorry, I ranted, go. They were never able to even sustain any type of positive momentum when things were going their way.

Starting point is 00:19:34 Like every time they made a big basket or a big play, they would continually get scrambled along three point line. Like we mentioned 41, 8, and 8 for Luca, and he bounced back certainly in terms of offensive generation from the Orlando game. But he was getting picked on a lot defensively. And to be clear, the defensive breakdowns were not all Luca. Like, because that becomes a loaded thing to bring up with Luca. I honestly, we talked about in the reaction to the Luca criticisms

Starting point is 00:20:14 that have been going on lately that were not convinced that he's fully back from that hamstring injury, a couple times during the game. Billy Mack noted that Luca looked like he was laboring. And I bring this up with me, he got landed on by, I think it was I Godoro, I think. but somebody jumped up to try to bid on a pump egg and literally landed with a knee in his back. And the reason I bring this up with Luca defensively is it's not just that they were targeting him

Starting point is 00:20:48 because they were targeting others in this game too, but they were specifically screening the crap out of Luca. Like they were running him into screens constantly, basically just piling on to what they were doing. And I think they may have recognized, or it looked like they may have recognized he's laboring. We're going to make him work extra hard. Like not just target him.

Starting point is 00:21:12 We are going to make him feel the targeting. And then when you start getting into this team and their soft switching defense, it starts making it even easier for them to do the thing to Luca, where they're really trying to take advantage beyond whatever defensive issues that can be there with Luca. It really felt like they recognized he is physically not all the way there. We're going to put him through the ringer. And he was, I have no, I mean, I don't have any, I mean, the effort was there with Luke.

Starting point is 00:21:45 I don't, I don't think it was. Right. That's what I'm getting to like, other than maybe effort and focus or whatever with Aiton, although I thought in the third quarter, it looked like there was a moment in the third quarter when the whole team woke up and it looked like, okay, he's doing the Capella stuff. Like he's setting screens and he's active and he's trying. like he was he wasn't getting the ball but he was like it looked like okay everybody like said hey guys we need to we need to go get this game and they came out in the third quarter and I thought

Starting point is 00:22:14 that's what they were going to do like okay this I thought we were going to sit here and talk Andy after the game about okay it was an ugly game they didn't look good but like in the second half of this game when they recognize like what needed to be done they did it with five minutes left I thought they're going to give you got I literally said out loud talking to no one. There's no one near me. They've got five minutes to save their season. And they came back and they tried the game. Let's talk about that coming back because Austin had an interesting response when asked about the frustration level. So we'll get into that coming up next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by five hour energy drink. Welcome to the five hour energy flavor draft. We're looking at every

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Starting point is 00:25:37 Austin Reeves was axed after the game about the frustration level for the team and to describe it. And Austin was clearly not in a good mood, just like pretty much everyone. And I say this just because Austin typically gives pretty thoughtful, pretty elaborate responses. He's very cooperative with the media. his response, and it was like a lot of short responses on the frustration level, very high. Those were his only two words, very high. He lamented their inability to control the very controllable things, as he put it and said, that's one of the factors that they're going to have to do if they're going to get the season back on track.

Starting point is 00:26:29 and by the way, controlling the controllables is something I know I've hit on a lot over the course of this season. Like the idea of this team, they do not inherently have a super high ceiling. The flaws are there. They've been apparent all year. It is going to be difficult to paper over them

Starting point is 00:26:48 even when they're playing at their best. But if you're going to try to do your best to paper over them, you have to control the things within your control. that means their margin for error is low, and their margin for being disjointed is basically non-existent. I was struck, and tell me if you agree, like, just on each side of the ball, you know, the game-winning play for Phoenix comes on penetration,

Starting point is 00:27:19 ball kicks out to the corner. Lakers collapse, you know, on the drive, which understandable, given the circumstances, you're up by two. It's, you know, your game is tied. you need this via scoreless possession to go to overtime. Ball swings the corner to Gillespie. Gillespie doesn't even hit the ground before he gets it to O'Neill.

Starting point is 00:27:36 O'Neill's wide open for the jumper. But this happened a lot during the game. Like the ball moved on Phoenix's side. The ball did not move on the Lakers side. And, you know, Aiton, after the Orlando game, did point out, standard NBA cliche, the ball finds energy and when it's moving and he meant himself in that sense but still he's right he is correct thursday it was the suns but i mean did that stick out to you like the energy that was created by phoenix because the ball was moving and traveling and guys are getting shots and

Starting point is 00:28:20 all this other stuff it just it was very stark compared to what the lakers were doing I mean, look, without Devin Booker and without Dylan Brooks, other than Jalen Green, they're not really left on that team with a lot of guys who would even look to go particularly ISO. And, you know, other than Colin Gillespie, there's really nobody on the team that would keep the ball in his hands a lot. Like, they're short-handed. but the setup of this team almost forces them to move the ball, and they did a really good job with it. They also, I think, you know, likely from the scouting report saw,

Starting point is 00:29:05 if you move the ball enough against this team, they will have difficulty rotating. And, you know, that can be tough for even the best defensive teams in the NBA, but when you're talking about one of the worst and a group that does not particularly operate on a string, and especially when, you know, you go those long stretches with, you know, Luca, LeBron, and Austin, or maybe like Luke Kinnard in there or Aiton. Like, you know, you've got a lot of guys that are there, you can find the cracks.

Starting point is 00:29:41 You can find the vulnerabilities. Like, you know, down the stretch, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia, I thought both made some really good plays on both ends to try to get the Lakers back into the game. But they have their own limitations as well. And you need to put more skill around them. And, you know, this was a night, like you mentioned earlier, where LeBron and AR did not bring enough in terms of production, didn't have enough impact. And 12 of just for people, if you haven't seen the box, They were combined 12 of 28 from the floor, 19 points, I'm sorry, 29 points between them,

Starting point is 00:30:25 two of eight from three point range, both of those two coming from Austin. Side note, LeBron's inability to hit a jumper is at sort of epidemic levels right now. Maybe it was something we'll talk about next week. Well, this is, I mean, his shooting is, you know, which had been the sort of equalizer for a little bit of loss of athleticism or burst or whatever, that that jumper that jumper that he's had for the last two or three seasons has completely abandoned him. So that's very problematic.

Starting point is 00:30:55 Well, it's especially, I mean, it would be problematic, period, because LeBron over the last few seasons had turned his outside shot into a legitimate weapon. But in this particular season, when it becomes incredibly important to find off-ball utilities for all three of LeBron, Austin, and Luca, and none of the three are at their best off ball. All three of them are at, I think their best, most effective, and most comfortable when they have the ball in their hands. But obviously, that's not a thing that can work.

Starting point is 00:31:31 But this is part of the redundancies that I've talked about, both stylistically, but also that none of them really thrive off ball. And LeBron's outside shot, I mean, starkly, failing him this season. He's shooting under, he's shooting barely over 30% from behind the arc this year. And I believe in the last month or so, it's under 30%. But like that, that accentuates the problems for LeBron off ball. Like it, it, he picked, I mean, picked, he picked a bad time for the shot to abandon. Like he should, yeah, I was right, he's 23% in February. Like, in other seasons, it would be an issue. This.

Starting point is 00:32:12 season in particular, it's really a problem because it just, it creates fewer ways to find some type of cohesion between him, Luke, and LeBron. Yeah, it's, uh, this one, in Austin. Yeah, sure, no. And I mean, I thought Austin had a couple nice cuts moved all the, and, and, you know, they, they, it's, uh, well, LeBron can make really good cuts as well. Right. You know, obviously, you can get him with a head of steam, but there's one too many of them.

Starting point is 00:32:42 When they play all play together. Well, that's part of the reason why at the beginning of the season, they were, I know people want to say that it was not having LeBron casting a shadow over things. A lot of this was it's simpler. It is just simpler to figure out what to do when it's just Luca and Austin. I mean, like point of fact for all the rightful focus on how Luca and LeBron have not found a chemistry this year, and it's true, and we've talked about it a lot. If you look at in 2026, their net rating is actually better than it was in 2025 as a two-man lineup.

Starting point is 00:33:21 And I'm going to go on a limb and say it's because Austin missed a lot of 2026. Like it just simplifies. I think they're trying. I mean, and the thing, too, is like when you watch LeBron play, and again, you can tell me if you disagree, LeBron looks like he's trying to give Luca the space to do. LeBron is not trying to force his way to 24, 25 points in night. You know, this is it, I want to close here because you put up a comment from UVK2M. Tonight was a crisis loss.

Starting point is 00:33:59 There's no going up from here. I agree with the first part of that. And this is kind of where I want to finish because I alluded to it before. You had alluded to it. they're i think you know we can stop talking about top three like a week ago they could have reached the three maybe now let's stay out of the playing i think is the the main goal here losing the phoenix is a problem with that it absolutely was chasing them it puts them within a game i believe game and a half something like that um i agree that this was a crisis loss

Starting point is 00:34:33 where they go from here is yet to be determined they still have the ability and the time to find some version of themselves that is better. But this feels not to be a prisoner of the moment like a potential pivot point where either the thing is just going to fall apart or they're going to start, decide to figure out ways to start to fix it. No argument. No argument. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can hang out with over 37,000 subscribers.

Starting point is 00:35:11 Do check out what may sound to some of you like a too charitable segment on DeAndre Aiden. But we do get into a lot of the big picture elements of that. Lakers play Saturday, correct? Yep, against the Warriors. And that won't be on TV. For those, by the way, listening to the radio broadcast on 710 ESPN, I will be doing the pre-half-time and post-game show for that on 710 ESPN. So if you're in your car or whatever and you want to listen to the game, I will be a part of it.

Starting point is 00:35:44 All right. So we'll be back after the game on Saturday, hopefully to talk about something a little more fun because the effort will be. Yeah. The effort will be. I have no doubt that the effort will be there on Sunday. I do, or Saturday, I have no idea what the execution is going to look like. So we'll see everyone then.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Scores 41, but Lakers Lose to Shorthanded Suns. Is the Season On the Brink?

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