LOS ANGELES — Watching the Lakers play against good teams this year is like watching a rerun of your favorite TV show where you know what’s going to happen.
They’ll lose in blowout fashion and the opponent’s
youth and athleticism will feel jarring compared to the lethargic tempo the Lakers play at.
This has been true for all 10 losses the Lakers have had this season, the latest coming on Tuesday against the Pistons where the script did not change.
LA trailed for the vast majority of the game and lost to Detroit 128-106. It marks the sixth time this year they’ve lost by 20 or more points, and the fifth time it was against a team above .500.
On the surface, the Lakers appear to be a good team themselves.
Luka Dončić is playing at an MVP level and will most certainly be an All-Star as the Lakers have won two-thirds of their games despite only having their full roster available for two matchups this season.
However, LA isn’t a city or a franchise accepting of moral victories. Whether rational or not, it’s always about winning championships for the Lakers. And if you consistently lose to the best teams, it’s clear you aren’t one.
After the loss, Lakers head coach JJ Redick discussed finding his team’s identity as they enter 2026.
“We’ve really tried to play the right way every night and have the right intent,” Redick said. “The flow of lineups and rotations and all that has been challenging for everybody. Not just the coaches. It’s a challenge for the players and building an identity is difficult. Think about our team last year, this team is different. And our identity will eventually be different.”
The Lakers’ current identity is a team that can beat up on bad teams and crumble against the best. LA is 13-3 against sub-.500 teams but 7-8 against above-.500 teams.
Simply put, LA has to be better if they want to be a top team in the West.
For now, there is a bevy of things for the Lakers to work on to improve.
They can start with their woeful defensive rating of 117.8, which is the fifth-worst in the NBA. Or perhaps address their bench scoring, which is the worst in the league. Even the offense has recently taken a dip in December with an offensive rating of 115.3, ranking 15th in the NBA.
For now, though, Luka thinks the Lakers need to focus on overall physicality against the top teams.
“We got to defintely match their physicality,” Luka said. That’s the whole point. We’ve got to match how they play. You see the refs let it go, so we should play with more physicality for sure.”
The good news for the Lakers is that if they want to feel good about themselves, their first three games in January will give them the opportunity to beat up on the lowly Grizzlies and Pelicans. But the next game fans should mark on their calendars will be on Jan. 7 when they take on the Spurs.
The Lakers can be elite when they face weaker talent, but when a team fights back, they fold like a lawn chair. And until that changes, the Lakers will be looking at another early playoff exit come April.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
