On Tuesday, former NBA player Kendrick Perkins expressed his unhappiness with the Los Angeles Lakers‘ inconsistent defense this season on ESPN’s “NBA Today.” Perkins commended the Lakers’ offensive effort but believes the opposition still needs to improve.
The Lakers lost their third game on Monday against the Detroit Pistons, 115-103. Despite Anthony Davis’ 37-point performance, the team couldn’t keep up with the Pistons. The young core of Detroit took advantage of the second-chance points, and the team had 22 second-chance points over Los Angeles’ 13.
Their recent loss prompted the ESPN analyst to break down the reason behind the Lakers‘ struggles.
“He has done a fantastic job as a first-year head coach, on the offensive end,” Perkins gave Redick credit. “Now JJ realized that there’s two ends of the basketball that he needs to be coaching, because the Lakers have the sixth-worst defensive efficiency, they give up fourth-most in the paint points and they have a problem in the perimeter with sliding those puppies.” (12:13)
According to Perkins, the team’s poor perimeter defense performance was caused by the backcourt combination of Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell.
“The other part of that is the personnel. Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell, they can give you something offensively. But defensively, they’re going to be a liability night in and night out.”
The Lakers look to get back to the winning side on their Wednesday game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Anthony Davis is questionable for the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Grizzlies
The Los Angeles Lakers may be forced to play without their All-Star big man against the Grizzlies in their regular season matchup. The organization reports that Davis is listed as questionable due to a contusion in his left heel. According to the Lakers, AD suffered the injury during Monday’s game against Detroit but remained to play out the end.
On Los Angeles’ injury report, Christian Koloko was not listed as out and is expected to appear against Memphis. Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood aren’t available on Wednesday, as they are recovering from surgeries.
Russell (right foot contusion) and Reaves (right ankle sprain) were part of the injury report. Both backcourt players have been listed as probable.
Davis has remained available for the Lakers since the 2024-25 NBA season started. AD has dominated seven games and emerged as the team’s offensive leader. The nine-time All-Star is averaging 32.6 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists. In five of the seven games he’s played, he’s scored at least 30 points.
But he hasn’t had the same level of rim protection as in the past campaigns. Since joining the Lakers in 2019, the big man’s average of 1.7 blocks has been his second-lowest.
