Max Christie, the Lakers’ youngest starter, summarized the team’s defensive problems simply Wednesday morning. When the Lakers communicate and when they play with connectivity, they stop teams.
And when they don’t, well, they look like they did in the first half Wednesday night.
Playing the Miami Heat on Wednesday for the first time since Tyler Herro exposed their worst defensive tendencies earlier this season in an embarrassing loss, Herro and the Heat did it again.
It was the worst kind of failure, one where the Lakers were prepared for the challenge and so obviously overwhelmed.