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