The Lakers felt good about their starting lineup Thursday when Luka Doncic and Rui Hachimura returned from injury to restore their normal starting unit for only the seventh time this season.
But that good feeling didn’t last long. Coming out of halftime down 10 points to the Houston Rockets, Austin Reaves missed the entire second half because of left calf soreness.
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Lakers coach JJ Redick didn’t have an update on Reaves’ injury after an uninspiring 119-96 loss to the Houston Rockets on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena, but he did have a lot to say about how “terrible” the Lakers have been during their three-game losing streak.
Read more: Austin Reaves’ return can’t save Lakers from dismal defensive effort in loss to Suns
“The two words of the day were effort and execution,” Redick said. “And I feel like when we’ve done both of those things at a high level, we’ve been a good basketball team. When we haven’t, we’re a terrible basketball team. And tonight we were a terrible basketball team. And that started legitimately right away.”
The Lakers knew they would have to stop the Rockets on the offensive boards, with Houston collecting an NBA-best 16.1 rebounds per game. That mindset wasn’t enough to prevent the Rockets from getting offensive rebounds on the first two plays and finishing the game with 17. They outrebounded the Lakers overall, 48-25.
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So why haven’t the Lakers been able to fix their problems?
“Because we don’t care enough right now,” Redick said. “And that’s the part that bothers you a lot. We don’t care enough to do the things that are necessary. We don’t care enough to be a professional. … I always say this about culture, I always say this about a good team being a functioning organism. … It can change like that. We don’t have it right now.”
Does Redick think he can coach “care” back into his players?
“No, I think guys will say they want to win,” Redick said. “The care factor to me is, ‘Do I care enough to actually do what I’m supposed to do, and just do it consistently?’ And that’s really what the championship habits are and that’s what we don’t have right now.”
Reaves missed three games with a left calf strain before returning against Phoenix on Tuesday. He scored 17 points off the bench in the Lakers’ loss to the Suns. Against the Rockets, Reaves started and played 15 minutes in the first half, scoring 12 points on five-for-eight shooting.
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Reaves is averaging 27.3 points per game, ranking him 11th in the NBA in scoring.
Doncic, who returned after missing a game because of a lower left leg contusion, had 25 points and seven assists. Doncic said Reaves wasn’t sure about the severity of his injury when the two spoke after the game.
“He’ll have an MRI, I think, tomorrow or past that,” Doncic said. “I know how it is to go to a calf injury. It’s not fun at all. Just be there to support him.”
LeBron James, who had 18 points, didn’t speak after the game and neither did Marcus Smart and Hachimura, who was held scoreless over 28 minutes.
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The Lakers have struggled on defense all season.
They entered Thursday allowing 117.4 points per game, 19th most in the NBA. They ranked 26th in opponent field-goal percentage (48.4), last in opponent three-point shooting percentage (38.5) and next to last in rebounds allowed (40.1).
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The Lakers will take Friday off and practice Saturday before hosting the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
Redick believes his players need to take more responsibility for their individual contributions if the Lakers are going to get out of their rut.
“It’s a matter of making the choice,” Redick said. “And too often, we have guys that don’t want to make that choice. And it’s pretty consistent who those guys are.
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“And so, Saturday’s practice — I told the guys — it’s going to be uncomfortable. The meeting is going to be uncomfortable. I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
