3 Lakers most to blame for Monday night's loss to the Nets

It was just a few days ago that the Los Angeles Lakers were riding an eight-game winning streak and surging into the 2-seed in the Western Conference playoff race. Things change quickly in the NBA. Monday night's loss to the Brooklyn Nets was the second straight for L.A., dropping them into a tie for third with the Memphis Grizzlies, who have won three straight. The next three teams in the standings have all won at least three in a row as well, which means we may be heading for a logjam in the final month of the regular season.

It looked early on that the Lakers might cruise to an easy victory over the lottery-bound Nets. L.A. led by 12 after the first quarter but trailed by one at halftime, then couldn't make enough plays down the stretch when the game was close to pull it out. Final score: Nets 111, Lakers 108.

Dropping a game in Boston on Saturday night was understandable. The Celtics are the defending champs, after all, and they always get up for this rivalry game. LeBron James had to leave with a groin injury, and though the Lakers were able to keep it close, Jayson Tatum and company were just a little bit too much.

Losing to the Nets, regardless of circumstance, is a tougher pill to swallow, and head coach JJ Redick rightfully laid into his team for a lack of effort and communication in his postgame press conference. "I think it was just an overall mentality to take shortcuts tonight," Redick said.

Even though the Lakers just recently completed an eight-game winning streak, Lakers fans have to like that their coach refuses to let them get complacent. Things are too close in the West to take nights off, even against the lower tier of teams in the league.

Accountability is key on any good team. Here's who deserves the most blame for the loss to the Nets.

All of the injured guys

Redick was quick to say, "I don't think being short-handed is an excuse for how we played basketball tonight," but it does need to be noted that the Lakers were well below full strength. Were there enough players left that they should have beaten the Nets anyway? Absolutely, but it would have been much easier if everyone was healthy.

LeBron is set to miss at least 1-2 weeks with the groin strain he suffered against the Celtics. Rui Hachimura is still on the shelf with patellar tendinopathy. Jaxson Hayes has been outstanding since Anthony Davis was traded away, but he's now missed the last two games with a left knee contusion. Dorian Finney-Smith, the Lakers' leader in plus/minus, was out with ankle soreness. That's four of L.A.'s top six guys.

Hayes and Finney-Smith should be back any day now, but the absence of so many rotation mainstays in this one forced some of the deeper bench players to assume a larger role. To be fair, they acquitted themselves quite well. Gabe Vincent put up his highest-scoring game as a Laker with 24 points. Dalton Knecht chipped in with 19, and Jordan Goodwin added 17.

It still wasn't enough, for reasons we'll soon get to. If there's any silver lining to be taken from the loss, it's that at least Redick knows he can go to his bench with confidence now.

Austin Reaves

Austin Reaves has been integral to the Lakers' success this year. He's playing on one of the best bargain contracts in the league, while establishing himself as arguably the premier third option of any team. He's been a playmaker, dishing out 5.9 assists per game, and he's evolved as a scorer with 18.8 points per game. Both of those are career highs.

Everyone is entitled to a bad game every once in a while, and you have to like the refreshing honesty of Reaves to call himself out and take accountability on the rare occasion when he does have one. "I thought I played incredibly bad ... When Bron's out, I gotta be better and I wasn't. That's one of the reasons we lost," he said after the game.

Reaves beat himself up, but he did do some things well. He got to the line 11 times, making 10 of them, and he handed out 10 assists and grabbed eight rebounds. He almost had a triple-double! His shooting was rough though, as he only made 1-5 from the three-point line and 3-14 overall.

Reaves obviously put extra pressure on himself with LeBron out. This time it didn't go as he planned, but he's been so good this year that Lakers fans should expect him to bounce back against the Bucks on Thursday.

Luka Dončić

Even after a month of seeing him in purple and gold, it still sounds strange to say that Luka Dončić is the face of the Lakers. It's a duty that he shares with LeBron on most nights, but when the King sits, the kingdom can't collapse. It's on Luka to ensure that doesn't happen, but he had a rough time in Brooklyn.

The Nets incessantly blitzed Luka with a double-team, forcing him into five turnovers. When he kept the ball, his shooting was brutal, as he made only 8-26 shots. Gabe Vincent outscored him on less than half the shots, which is about as clear a picture of inefficiency as you can have.

Luka is no stranger to carrying an undermanned team. He's done it for most of his career in Dallas. Luckily, he won't have to worry about that much in L.A., because at full strength, this is a deeper roster than it gets credit for.

Occasionally though, you're missing four guys and you need your superstar to put the team on his back. Despite finishing with a triple-double, Luka wasn't able to do it on this night. Eighteen missed shots and five turnovers add up to a lot of empty possessions

The bench did their part to sneak out a win, but when your best two players combine to shoot 11-40, it's really hard to win. It's on Redick now to make sure that two losses don't snowball into something more.