Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers were perceived to be a potential landing spot point guard Kyrie Irving if he was traded by the Brooklyn Nets, but that no longer appears to be the case.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported Monday that the Lakers have "significant concerns about the prospect of adding Irving at any price and have not been focused on that scenario all season long." Irving is serving a suspension of at least five games for promoting an antisemitic film on social media.

This past offseason, Irving was the subject of substantial speculation as it appeared that the Nets were ready to move on from the controversial point guard. Jake Fischer, then of Bleacher Report, told NBA insider Marc Stein in June that Irving "definitely was considering taking the taxpayer mid-level exception to play for the Lakers" before he exercised his $37 million player option for the 2022-23 season.

Chris Haynes reported for Yahoo Sports in early July that Los Angeles and Brooklyn were "actively engaged in discussions" regarding a potential trade for Irving in exchange for Russell Westbrook. Those talks eventually fizzled, and after the trade request by star forward Kevin Durant was rescinded, Brooklyn moved forward without making significant changes to its core in hopes of contending for an NBA title this season.

However, that didn't end the chatter about Irving's desire to join the Lakers. Last month, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reported that Irving doesn't plan on re-signing with the Nets when he becomes a free agent next summer and intends to sign with Los Angeles.

Stephen A. Smith: "This is their (Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving) last season together. They're not re-signing with Brooklyn. Kyrie is not re-signing with Brooklyn. Kyrie is planning to go to Los Angeles.”

(h/t @_Talkin_NBA)

https://t.co/BZ46udCwvv

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 12, 2022

Prior to his suspension, Irving hadn't done much to improve his perception around the league. The 30-year-old had already caused tumult off the court for his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination and his opposition to vaccine mandates. He became the source of even more controversy when he posted a tweet that featured a link to a film Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.

As part of their announcement of Irving's suspension Thursday, the Nets said they "were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs." The seven-time All-Star later issued an apology with a statement on social media.

Kyrie Irving issues an apology amid antisemitism controversy that led to his suspension by Nets: “To all Jewish families and communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize.” pic.twitter.com/QUXt1WtK2g

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) November 4, 2022

In eight games this season, Irving averaged 26.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists. The Nets were 2-6 with him in the lineup and have since improved to 4-6 heading into Monday's matchup at the Dallas Mavericks (5-3).

LeBron James' former teammate, Denver Nuggets wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, offered a blunt assessment of the current state of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.

"Just watching the games, it just looks like there's no basketball over there," he told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "It's just playing pickup. It's hard to watch sometimes. So from me to him, just get the team together, and I just want to see that spark in him again. I don't think I see that spark in Bron. So, hopefully, he can get it back."

KCP, who played with James during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons and won a title with him in the Orlando bubble, said the key was surrounding him with plenty of shooters.

"The spacing was great," he said of the title-winning season. "The spacing gives driving lanes for Bron and [Anthony Davis], where Bron didn't like to shoot as much threes. So it gives him driving lanes, and when he does see the help, he's a tremendous passer and he would find us."

The 2-7 Lakers, meanwhile, are devoid of great shooting, hitting on just 28.4 percent of their three-point attempts this season. Even the Lakers are acknowledging as much at this point.

"I mean, to be completely honest, we're not a team that's constructed of great shooting," James told reporters after the season opener. "And that's just what the truth of the matter is. It's not like we're sitting here with a lot of lasers on our team."

Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said on media day: "I think in terms of shooting, that's a needed skill. Some of that can come from the outside, by additional roster moves or roster moves throughout the season."

The Lakers seemingly addressed one of their biggest concerns coming into the season, with Russell Westbrook thriving in recent games coming off the bench. The trio of Westbrook, James and AD didn't play particularly well together in the starting lineup, so Westbrook's buy-in to a sixth-man role has been a welcome development.

But like James and AD, Westbrook is another player best suited to playing in a lineup loaded with shooting. And if the Lakers are going to address that need, Westbrook is still the most likely player going out the door.

At some point, the 14th-place team in the Western Conference is going to have to do something. The current roster isn't cutting it, potentially wasting one of the few remaining years James has left in his career.

The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a rocky start in 2022, to say the least. After back-to-back wins over the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans last week, it seemed that L.A. could be on the verge of turning things around. However, lopsided losses to the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers over the weekend have dropped the Lakers to 2-7.

The question of whether L.A. will trade Russell Westbrook this season hangs over the Lakers still, and another star could enter the trade picture as well. According to The Ringer's Bill Simmons, the Lakers could look to deal Anthony Davis if the season continues to go south.

The fact that trading Westbrook would likely require parting with future draft capital would play a role in that decision. Simmons said the following on the latest episode of his podcast.

"There's some buzz, some buzzing that A.D. might be available. That that's a Plan B because the Westbrook trade or whatever they think they can get for Westbrook and whether you want to give up future assets, maybe that doesn't even make sense, because what are you getting if you're the Lakers?"

In many ways, trading Westbrook along with draft capital wouldn't make sense. If L.A. is on the verge of a rebuild, its draft picks would be more valuable than clearing Westbrook's salary for the rest of the season.

Could the Lakers land a couple of players who would better complement Davis and LeBron James in a Westbrook deal? Perhaps, but Westbrook has played well since head coach Darvin Ham began utilizing him as a sixth man.

The 33-year-old struggled as a starter over the first three games. Since coming off of the bench in Game 5, however, he's been a reliable contributor. In his last five games, Westbrook has shot 50 percent from the floor and 45 percent from three-point range. He's averaging 15.6 points per game despite averaging just over 10 as a starter.

Ham has a plan for Westbrook, and it appears to be working.

"One of my goals, and selfishly, is to get him in the conversation for Sixth Man of the Year at some point. And why not start now?" Ham said, per The Athletic's Jovan Buha.

Westbrook's newfound spark is part of the reason why trading Davis wouldn't make a ton of sense right now either. Davis hasn't played like a superstar since the start of last season, but he's also been injury-hampered.

Davis is dealing with a back injury, while James (foot) is less than 100 percent as well. If L.A.'s two biggest stars can get healthy, this squad—which should eventually get Dennis Schroder back from his thumb injury—may still be able to make a run in a surprisingly not-great Western Conference.

The Lakers are just 2.5 games behind the crosstown Clippers, who hold the No. 8 seed in the West.

Suppose the Lakers can't get back into the playoff mix. Perhaps Westbrook's revival is a mirage. Maybe Davis never gets and stays healthy this season. Maybe the 37-year-old James has finally started to decline. If all of that is true, then a full-on rebuild would make sense for the Lakers, but blowing things up now wouldn't.

One thing the Lakers have to find out this season is whether Ham is the right coach for the long term. He's doing good work with Westbrook, and he deserves a chance to navigate the team's early struggles. If the Lakers give up on the season now, they won't have a good idea of whether Ham is capable of success or even overseeing a rebuild.

Would L.A. want to blow up its roster and search for another new head coach in the same offseason? Not if they can avoid it. The Lakers need to see if Ham can pull the team out of its current mess, and that means keeping the roster intact for now.

The last thing to consider here is Davis' trade value. He's a 29-year-old big who isn't healthy. While he'd still bring an enticing trade package to L.A., he'd be even more valuable if he is healthy and playing at a high level. That's unlikely to happen until later in the season, if at all.

A team looking to acquire Davis now would be looking to buy low.

While it may be fun to think about the Lakers folding (some fans will never like L.A.) or Davis landing with a clearer contender, don't expect it to happen any time soon. There may come a point where trading Davis makes sense, but that point won't come until we're closer to the February 9 trade deadline.

The Los Angeles Lakers could end up being a landing spot for Kevin Durant amid the slow start to the season for both teams.

One NBA executive discussed the situation with Sam Amick of The Athletic:

I'm assuming there's some sort of agreement with Kevin. Like, 'Look, if you want to move, we'll move you. And we're not going to move you to New Orleans and we're not going to move you to Sacramento and we’re not going to move you to Indiana.' So if the best Brooklyn can do is the Lakers, then if I was the Lakers, that's what I'd be waiting on.

Durant requested a trade in the offseason before the Nets announced in August they would "move forward with our partnership."

The superstar could renew his trade request after the team's 4-6 start, especially with friend and teammate Kyrie Irving suspended for sharing an antisemitic video and failing to disavow antisemitism.

Durant previously said his trade request was due to the "uncertainty" surrounding the organization after initially planning to play with Irving and James Harden. Harden is no longer with the team and there are even more unknowns with Irving suspended and head coach Steve Nash fired.

Another executive told Amick that Durant could renew his trade request if Irving does not return.

"I just can't imagine KD wanting to be there, not because of his relationship with Kyrie but because the level of talent that’s going to be on that roster at this point in his career (will be subpar)," the executive said.

Things aren't any better in Los Angeles with the Lakers just 2-7 to start the year after missing the playoffs completely in 2021-22. It could still give Durant a fresh start with three years remaining on his contract.

Bill Simmons of The Ringer reported on his podcast the Lakers could make Anthony Davis available, while Russell Westbrook has been on the trade block since the end of last season.

It could help pair Durant and LeBron James in L.A., creating a duo of two of the best players of their generation.

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly open to trading Anthony Davis as they look to save their sinking season.

Bill Simmons of The Ringer said on The Bill Simmons Podcast (1:09:00 mark) that there has been "buzz" behind the scenes about blowing things up with a Davis deal rather than going through with trading Russell Westbrook:

"There's some buzz, some buzzing that AD might be available. That that's a plan B. Because the Westbrook trade—or whatever they think they can get for Westbrook and whether you'd want to give up future assets—maybe that doesn't even make sense because what are you getting if you're the Lakers?

"You've got Davis here, who I don't think has looked the same for a couple years—certainly not close to Bubble Davis. That's the last time we saw vintage, 2018 Pelicans-level Davis. ... I don't know what the endgame is with this Lakers team, but I know the Pelicans have their pick. And I don't think, whatever they have, I don't think it's really fixable in a way to make them a playoff team."

Davis is under contract through the 2023-24 season and has a $43.2 million player option for 2024-25.

While the Lakers might listen to a Davis deal, it makes no practical sense. No team would give up a player of his equivalent skill set—or better—in a trade. Any team looking to acquire the eight-time All-Star would do so in hopes he'd lead it to a championship, and thus it would want to retain as many high-level assets as possible.

Superstar-for-superstar trades rarely happen in the NBA for a reason. It runs counter to the logic of team building.

If the Lakers decided they want to blow things up and start a rebuild, only then would a Davis trade make sense. They would find no shortage of suitors willing to part with multiple first-round picks and young players, though the deal would likely pale in comparison to the package the Lakers gave up in 2019 to acquire Davis.

It doesn't take a deep dive into the Twitter replies to find suggestions of a Davis-for-Kyrie Irving swap, which makes no basketball sense for the Lakers—and that's before delving into whether organizations would even want Irving on their teams given his promotion of an antisemitic film and evasiveness when asked by media if he held antisemitic views. Adding Irving and subtracting Davis would give the Lakers zero reliable rim protection and force a nearly 38-year-old LeBron James into a full-time power forward role.

All while giving the Lakers another primary ball-handler who does not mesh well with Russell Westbrook.

So, to wrap: Would the Lakers trade Davis? If the Brooklyn Nets decided to blow things up and offered their other star in Kevin Durant, then it might be a conversation worth merit. But Brooklyn held on to Durant all summer after his trade request and appears committed to attempting a turnaround.

Let's start with the good news: Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham has solved last season's most significant on-court issue. He has unlocked Russell Westbrook.

But here's the bad news: They are now 2-7 after a 114-100 loss at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday afternoon, and 37-year-old LeBron James is playing some of the worst basketball of his career.

"LeBron doesn't even look like a main option right now," one executive said of the Lakers. "Neither does [Anthony Davis]."

The Lakers may be just as bad as last year's 33-win squad, quite possibly worse. While calls for a season-saving trade come from virtually all over, new questions are beginning to bubble up: What if Laker superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis are finally declining in a meaningful way?

And if that's the case, should the franchise really sacrifice its future by soliciting trades to fix what may be irreparably broken?

---

A Matt Ryan Prayer Away from 1-8

The Lakers have yet to establish an identity this season. If the first several games suggested they'd be a hard-fighting defensive squad that couldn't shoot, the last two saw porous defense with either strong or marginal shooting. Against the Cavs, L.A. lost by 14 despite hitting as many threes and more field goals than Cleveland.

James is averaging just 24.3 points a game on 44.7 shooting from the field. Both marks are the lowest since his rookie season, and it's not as if this is a slow and steady decline after last year's 30.3 points a night at 52.4 percent.

He's also shooting a career-worst 21 percent from three-point range and doesn't seem eager to attack the basket or fight consistently on defense.

Some or all that may have to do with a non-Covid illness or the sore left foot he's been playing through over the past week. It might be the team makeup or the new system under a new coach. It could be none or all of the above, but if this continues, the Lakers are dead in the water.

Meanwhile, Davis is playing through back issues. His offensive numbers are on par with his last two seasons, and his rebounding is up to 11.1 per game. But his 22.5 points a night is well below his 26.1 during the team's championship run in 2019-20. Davis' most significant dip since the title has been from three-point range, where he's currently at 23.1 percent.

"The Lakers have a ton of holes. They lack playmaking, shooting and perimeter defense," the executive said. "Once stars get old, you need young, athletic shooters who defend and bring a jolt of energy."

To an extent, the Lakers have improved over last year's roster with a younger, more athletic group of players. New starters Lonny Walker IV and Troy Brown Jr. have played well, but neither is a playmaker, and the shooting is problematic (29.8 and 32.1 percent from three, respectively). Patrick Beverley (22.7 percent) and Kendrick Nunn (23.1 percent) aren't exactly solving the shooting woes either.

Is it a chicken/egg situation? Are the Lakers struggling because James is slowing down, leading to fewer open looks for teammates? Or is the lack of shooting around James giving him no space to operate in the half-court?

Teams are willing to give the Lakers open looks, so it still feels like a personnel problem. But if James is finally starting to show his age, that's a much deeper issue.

---

Russ Isn't the Problem

Credit to Ham for getting buy-in from Westbrook on the benching. That's a hard sell for any coach to make to any starter, let alone someone with Westbrook's resumé. But Westbrook has bought in, averaging 18.8 points with 7.2 assists off the bench. He's shooting 50 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three.

If the Lakers can finish with a respectable record, Westbrook could realistically be a Sixth Man of the Year candidate. Who doesn't love a good redemption story?

But the Lakers still aren't winning games. That points to the fundamental problem in the roster. Westbrook is earning 27.7 percent of the team's total team salary, but he just doesn't fit well on the court with James.

And splitting up James and Westbrook's minutes hasn't solved the core issues. The Lakers are abysmal in the first and third quarters, partly because of the lack of shooting in the starting lineup.

If the team could turn Westbrook's salary around for two or three role players who better fit the team—like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso, to pick three names from thin air at random—the Lakers would theoretically be better suited to support James.

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West Wide Open

If there's a saving grace for the Lakers, the Western Conference hasn't gone as many predicted. The Golden State Warriors are 3-7, while the Utah Jazz (a team many around the league believed was a "lock to tank") were 7-3 entering play on Sunday.

The Lakers are just 2.5 games out of the last play-in slot and 3.5 games behind the sixth-place Dallas Mavericks for a guaranteed playoff berth.

Whether it's Westbrook going out in a trade to rebalance the team or a minor deal to add shooting, playmaking and perimeter defense, L.A. would need to give to get. The price could hurt the team's long-term prospects in a post-LeBron purgatory as he ages out (or potentially leaves as a free agent in 2024 or 2025).

The franchise should have a read on James' and Davis' actual status. Both have missed significant games over recent seasons, and cold stints happen to everyone. If the slow start is a temporary bug and not a feature, then a trade could still be the answer.

The other equally plausible scenario: The Lakers have no real chance of competing with their current superstar duo and could easily panic into a deal attempting to address the unaddressable.

Giving up two future first-round draft picks only makes sense if the Lakers have a path to success. That might lead to the long-rumored Westbrook and two firsts to the Indiana Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.

L.A. could also decide Westbrook's contribution off the bench is valuable enough to try and make a smaller deal, like sending Beverley and Nunn with second-round compensation. The Lakers can bring back up to $22.9 million in salary for the pair and even more with additional players.

That might be enough to chase players like Phoenix's Jae Crowder or Hield, but the trade market doesn't usually ramp up until December 15, when most free agents signed this summer are eligible to be dealt. The trade deadline is February 10, but the Lakers can barely wait until mid-December, let alone February, at the rate the team is losing.

If Los Angeles can level out instead of losing at a 77.8 percent rate, patience can be a friend. The NBA has been especially volatile the last few weeks.

L.A. may want to see how the Brooklyn Nets get through the recent drama surrounding Kyrie Irving and his recent suspension for refusing to "unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs." The optics wouldn't be pretty, but is everyone 100 percent sure Kevin Durant will finish the season in Brooklyn?

The West may be open at the top, but the Lakers must overtake at least four teams for a shot at the play-in.

Is there a realistic trade that can make that happen and catapult the franchise into true contention?

Not if James is finally losing the battle to Father Time.

---

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.

The Los Angeles Lakers are on another losing streak.

Los Angeles lost 114-100 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, dropping its record to an ugly 2-7 on the season. The Purple and Gold lost their first five games, won two in a row and have now lost their past two.

To be fair, the Cavaliers have been one of the best teams in the league this season. They have won eight in a row after dropping the opener and cruised in the second half behind Donovan Mitchell (33 points, five rebounds and two assists) and Darius Garland (24 points, seven assists and four rebounds).

That didn't stop social media from criticizing Los Angeles:

Putting together an Odell Beckham Sr-style supercut of LeBron’s Lakers teammates missing shots he set them up for #FreeLBJ

— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) November 6, 2022

The Cavs are good. The Lakers are… not.

— Football Chopz (@Pchopz_) November 6, 2022

#Cavs started off the game today allowing 36 points in the first quarter against the Lakers.

They allowed just 36 in the entire second half.

— Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) November 6, 2022

3rd Quarter Lakers are GARBAGE pic.twitter.com/9ouPebWRZd

— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) November 6, 2022

The Lakers waived the white flag and have cut it to single digits. This is hilarious.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 6, 2022

Stop freezing him out of the Offense in the 2nd Halves of Games @Lakers pic.twitter.com/3qMmHHZxit

— KBs GOAT (@KbsGoat) November 6, 2022

Mitchell and Darius Garland combining for 57 PTS after beating the Lakers pic.twitter.com/oYyNIRnU4u

— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) November 6, 2022

idk if this Lakers team can be fixed… Our role players can’t compete.

Wenyen Gabriel, Toscano-Anderson, Troy Brown Jr, Pat Bev, and Kendrick Nunn aren’t winning you games lol

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) November 6, 2022

LeBron James with this Lakers team pic.twitter.com/0oekLkvX80

— McNeil (@Reflog_18) November 6, 2022

Sunday figured to be an uphill battle for the Lakers, but they built a six-point halftime lead with Anthony Davis stuffing the stat sheet, Russell Westbrook playing well in his sixth-man role and LeBron James (who scored 27 in Sunday's loss) playing the role of secondary scorer.

Westbrook wasn't only scoring, he was facilitating while playing true point guard off the bench with more freedom to attack.

However, much of Westbrook's positive momentum was undercut by his seven turnovers. Giveaways helped the Cavaliers string together defensive stops in the third quarter, as the Lakers scored an ugly 16 points in the period.

It didn't get much better in the fourth, as Cleveland pulled away for the victory.

Next up for the Lakers is a road game against the Utah Jazz on Monday when they will look to snap out of their latest skid.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said former teammate Kyrie Irving "caused some harm to a lot of people" with his promotion of an antisemitic film.

"He caused some harm, and I think it's unfortunate," James told reporters Friday. "But I don't stand on the position to harm people when it comes to your voice or your platform or anything. So it doesn't matter what color your skin is, how tall you are, what position you're in. If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harms people, then I don't respect it."

He added: "I don't condone any hate to any kind. To any race. To Jewish communities, to Black communities, to Asian communities. You guys know where I stand."

James and Irving, who currently plays for the Brooklyn Nets, spent three seasons as teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014 through 2017.

The Nets announced Thursday they'd given Irving an indefinite suspension of at least five games for his "failure to disavow antisemitism."

Their decision came after the seven-time NBA All-Star wouldn't directly answer questions about whether he held any antisemitic beliefs in reference to a tweet he posted linking to the film:

Kyrie Irving is asked if he has any anti-Semitic beliefs: pic.twitter.com/hHI8FFqMbs

— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) November 3, 2022

Anti-Defamation League CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted the film contains "deeply antisemitic themes." Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone reported the film claims "Jewish slave ships that brought our West African negro or Bantu ancestors to slave ports owned by [Jews]."

While it has been acknowledged that some Jewish people were involved in slavery, the allegation that Jews were the driving force of slavery has been widely debunked.

After being suspended, Irving posted a statement on Instagram, saying he had "no intentions to disrespect any Jewish cultural history regarding the Holocaust or perpetuate any hate."

"To all Jewish families and communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize," Irving wrote. "I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled antisemitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the documentary."

Nets general manager Sean Marks said the apology "a step in the right direction," but noted the point guard will be asked to speak with Jewish community leaders before he's allowed to rejoin the team.

"[Irving's] going to have to sit down with them, he's going to have to sit down with the organization after this," Marks told reporters. "We will evaluate and see if this is the right opportunity to bring him back."

The 30-year-old guard served the first game of his suspension Friday night as the Nets scored a 128-86 road win over the Washington Wizards.

He'll be first eligible to return for a Nov. 13 game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers' defense was criticized after struggling mightily to generate stops in a 130-116 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

L.A.'s play at that end of the floor has been a bright spot despite the team's sluggish start, ranking seventh in the NBA with a 45.3 percent opponent's field goal percentage. That wasn't the case against Utah, which shot 50.5 percent from the field and knocked down 17 threes to drop the Lakers' record to 2-6.

"We never want it to happen, but there's some games throughout the course of an 82-game season where you don't have it defensively, and tonight we didn't have it," five-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection LeBron James told reporters.

Here's a look at some social-media reaction to the defensive performance:

Defense was trash tonight. Ham should light em up. Seeing this team again on Monday. Gotta tighten up. Jazz playing beautiful team ball. Kudos to them.

— QuestFor18 (@HisandHerLakers) November 5, 2022

Lakers playing defense https://t.co/xheoCoaVEd

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) November 5, 2022

LeBron finally looks kinda old. This lakers team is more embarassing than their record. AD took one shot in the fourth quarter and played awful defense. What are they doing lol. They needed russ to bail them out tonight and got run out the gym

— kang (@jaycaspiankang) November 5, 2022

The Lakers had the 3rd best defense coming into tonight.

The Jazz just dropped 130 points on them, shooting 51/43/90%.

They are 7-3. pic.twitter.com/Gn0IejyepM

— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 5, 2022

Lakers’ game plan on defense. pic.twitter.com/fIjkX180fi

— Durham Hurricanes (@DHurricanes2002) November 5, 2022

Not a lot to say, the defense was pitiful. Nobody put bodies on people. Utah was able to get open looks off simple ball movement and they set a ton is screens that the Lakers just died on

— CL Owens 🏀 🇺🇸 (@CSmoove_Sports) November 5, 2022

Lakers defense let them down tonight. Get back on track next game.

— TheLakersOptimist (@LakersOptimist) November 5, 2022

Russ has looked great the last few games! The defense let the Lakers down tonight which had been their strong front. Jordan Clarkson balled out!
I think they’ll find a groove here and start winning some of these games. If they keep their defense going & run faster breaks

— Kelvin Washington (@Kdubblive) November 5, 2022

The defense all around let the Lakers down in this one

Just abysmal.

Tough one coming up against Cleveland. #LakeShow

— 𝒦𝒶𝓃𝑒 💜💛🇳🇿 (@LALPrime) November 5, 2022

The struggles defending a well-rounded Jazz offense overshadowed some other positive signs for Los Angeles.

James nearly had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Anthony Davis recorded 22 points and eight boards. Russell Westbrook also continued his resurgence off the bench with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting along with six dimes.

They just couldn't slow down Utah, which scored 40 points in the first quarter and never looked back.

Lauri Markkanen paced the Jazz with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Clarkson (20 points), Kelly Olynyk (18), Collin Sexton (17) and Mike Conley (15) also reached double figures in scoring for Utah, which improved to 7-3.

"Defense is something you can get right damn near every night," Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said. "We need to be accountable on that end of the floor. ... We gotta get stops to survive and excel."

L.A. will look to combine its typically reliable defense with an improving offense when it returns to action Sunday to host the Cleveland Cavaliers.