- Austin Reaves’ semi-worrisome comments about his future with Lakers
- Austin Reaves says he had to buy LeBron James Xbox controller as one of his rookie duties on Lakers
- Tristan Thompson says he surprised LeBron James during Lakers workout: ‘I haven’t seen this since Cleveland’
- Draymond Green says the Lakers are a ‘serious threat’ in the Western Conference
- Report: Lakers downgrade D’Angelo Russell’s status for Friday’s matchup vs. Thunder
- Kendrick Perkins rips ‘borderline senior citizen’ Chris Paul for letting Austin Reaves drop 25 points on him
- Anthony Davis issues confident statement on Lakers playoff hopes: ‘You put anybody against us, I like our chances’
- Anthony Davis declares that he and LeBron James have ‘one of the best relationships’ among duos in the NBA
- Former teammate of Kobe and LeBron says Kobe was ‘like Mike’ while LeBron was more ‘happy-go-lucky’
- Report: LeBron James has resumed on-court activity for Lakers
Coach Fizdale says Lakers all bought in to one huge aspect which ignited their offense
- Updated: December 19, 2021
Although the very shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday by five points, one member of the coaching staff feels there’s a reason for optimism.
David Fizdale feels that the team’s offense has taken a step forward, at least for now.
Fiz on what he liked from our offense tonight.
"I think what the team really wrapped their mind around was how much they need to move the ball to be a good offensive team."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) December 20, 2021
More Fiz on tonight's offensive philosophy
"You have to rely on the guy next to you (without AD)…but the ball movement I was really happy with and they really bought into that."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) December 20, 2021
Fizdale is normally an assistant coach, but with head coach Frank Vogel (and several players) in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, Fizdale was the bench leader for the Lakers in the Windy City.
Although L.A.’s defense has gradually improved this season, its offense has continued to be highly inefficient. Coming into Sunday’s game, the team was only 24th in offensive rating.
One criticism of the Lakers’ half-court offense has been the lack of ball and player movement, but they did look better in both areas against Chicago.
They managed to shoot 51.2 percent from the field and had a solid 25 assists on Sunday.
But the bone of contention was turnovers. L.A. gave the ball up 19 times, and it almost singlehandedly led to the 115-110 loss.
LeBron James and Russell Westbrook both played well, while new addition Isaiah Thomas again gave the Lakers a lift in his second game with them.
L.A. will head home to face the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, then it will go up against the Brooklyn Nets on Christmas Day.