Marcus Smart addressed the Lakers’ defensive struggles following a 132-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. “They play really hard, they play together and no matter what happens, they keep going,” Smart said. “That’s something we got to fix on our end and take a little bit out of their book.”
On improving defensive consistency, Smart explained, “In this league, there’s so many games. Some games you have these games, but for us it’s just figuring out what we do well, what we struggle with, and try to harper down on and fix it. There’s really nothing the coaching staff can do; we got to figure it out as players.”
Smart was candid about the team’s current performance. “We’re doing… we’re being real sh*tty right now and it’s showing. Every team goes through it. Right now, it’s our time,” he said. He stressed that offensive rebounds and allowing players to get wherever they want on the court highlight the need for player accountability. “There’s no help, no resistance, no urgency. It’s on us.”
As a leader, Smart said he emphasizes leading by example. “Just trying to do it by example, taking charges, putting my body on the line every night, leaving it all on the court. That’s the primary way for me,” he said. He also underscored the importance of communication. “We talk to guys even though sometimes they might not want to hear it, especially when we lose. But it’s integral for us to see and talk to one another and figure it out as players.”
Smart detailed how accountability works among teammates. “We’ve been doing a good job with it. In huddles, we’re talking about what we need to do, what we see, what we can fix, and trying to go out there and do it. We just got to go out there with a little more urgency, especially to start the half. They scored the first 13 possessions—stuff like that can’t happen.”
“We got to be better. It’s difficult in this league,” Smart said. “Everybody can play and everybody works on their game and everybody comes out and they want to win and they want to do good. So, especially playing against the Lakers, you’re definitely going to get everybody’s best game every time. It doesn’t matter what the the percentages say. It doesn’t matter what the numbers say. You can’t go by that. We got to go by understanding that we wear the Lakers across our jersey and everybody’s coming to try to kill us.”
Phoenix improved to 16-13 behind Dillon Brooks’ 25 points and Devin Booker’s 21 points and 11 assists. Los Angeles dropped to 19-9 without Luka Doncic, with LeBron James scoring 23 points and Austin Reaves adding 17 off the bench. The Lakers shot 48% from the field and 38% from three-point range, falling behind by double digits midway through the third quarter.
The Suns pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Los Angeles 45-29, with Brooks scoring 12 points during the decisive stretch. All five Suns starters finished in double figures, showcasing a balanced offensive attack that the Lakers struggled to contain.
