There is plenty of blame to spread all around for the Lakers blowing a 20-point lead in the fourth and turning their matchup against the Suns into a nailbiter.
Marcus Smart is certainly one of the culprits.
He had an awful no-look pass attempt to Jarred Vanderbilt that landed right in the hands of Grayson Allen. Smart and Vando are good defensive players, but unless everyone else is on the other side of the floor injured, they should never be the leaders of a fastbreak.
That wasn’t the sole reason the Lakers’
lead disintegrated, but looking back, it was a momentum-shifting moment.
Before even taking a question from the media regarding this play, Smart acknowledged it was one of a couple of foolish decisions he made in the game.
Smart went on to explain why he made such a puzzling pass.
“In my mind, I saw Grayson Allen, at first when we were at halfcourt, chasing me down,” Smart said. “To be honest, I thought he was going to try to foul me or something, knowing Grayson. He doesn’t like to give up easy layups. Then, Vando, who’s been a real professional for us, who hasn’t played much this season and has come in and made an impact the way he does and given the effort and being a guy that understands that, I was like ‘Let me try to reward him with an easy one’ and sometimes being too unselfish is selfish.”
It’s nice that Smart wanted to reward Vando’s play, but a no-look pass with a defender directly behind you is not how to do it.
Late in the game, with the Lakers up by two with 24 seconds to go, Smart had another offensive miscue.
He decided that instead of milking the clock and forcing the Suns to foul, pushing the ball coast-to-coast and taking a shot was a better idea.
It ended with Rui Hachimura open in the corner, Luka Dončić flailing his arms begging Smart to stop and Suns guard Ryan Dunn rejecting the Smart shot attempt. Dunn blocked the shot so emphatically that it looked like an older brother swatting away a jumper taken by his younger sibling.
While the Smart turnover was bad, one could argue the shot he took was even worse. LA was still in control, and a lack of clock and self-awareness almost ended disastrously. Luckily, the Lakers squeaked out the win.
Smart has to be better with his offensive decision-making. Too often, he takes shots when far better options are available. Now, that is part of the Smart experience, so the Lakers will have to put up with some of it, but against the Suns, it was a bit much.
Hopefully, that’s his last Shaqtin’ a Fool moment for this season.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
