The Lakers’ bad habits are catching up to them during a three-game losing skid

PHOENIX — The Lakers told themselves again.

That’s part of the reason why there was so much frustration surrounding their 113-110 road loss to the Suns on Thursday night.

Because if the Lakers extrapolated the effort, energy, physicality and grit they displayed in the final five and a half minutes against the Suns over the periods of the game when they were unfocused, lethargic and undisciplined, they probably wouldn’t have left Mortgage Matchup Center with their third consecutive loss.

They wouldn’t have needed Luka Doncic’s absurd late shot and 41-point performance to keep pace with the Suns, who were without their two best players, Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks.

The match had not yet been decided Royce O’Neale’s 3-pointer with just under a second left. Or the three-point attempt in the corner by Austin Reaveswhich was wide open after a good schematic play after the timeout, that was just a little too far to the right.

“Control the controllables,” Reaves said of how the Lakers (34-24) can get out of their slump. “(There were) a handful of plays that I think if we’re better, it can impact a game. Every possession is important. It sounds like a cliché because there are so many, but it can swing the game in either direction for the entire game. One little play, one little mistake can ignite a crowd, ignite a team, whatever it may be.”

The Lakers, who have lost five of their last seven games, took advantage when they took control of the controlables.

Like at 5:42 of the fourth quarter, with the Lakers trailing 101-89, when the 6-foot-4 Reaves edged Ryan Dunn 6-7 after a Jalen Green missed 3, allowing Marcus Smart to jump over Dunn 6-3 to grab a contested defensive rebound.

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Or, with the Lakers trailing 101-92, when Smart made a perfectly timed low-man rotation and got vertical to the rim to prevent Dunn from dunking and keep the Suns from going up by double digits.

Or when Jake LaRavia took a bump on a Collin Gillespie drive and forced a turnover from behind (Smart was credited with the steal) when the Lakers trailed 103-98.

Each of these defensive plays led directly to the Lakers scoring at the other end, allowing them to turn a twelve-point deficit into a tie at 108 with one minute remaining.

The Lakers were not devoid of mistakes during the 19-7 run they made during the five-and-a-half minute period: over-helping, creating easier scoring opportunities for Suns players by jumping on defense when they didn’t need to, or botched switches being noticed.

But they played with a physicality and urgency that they had not been consistent with before.

“That’s the bad thing: We’ve shown time and time again that we can do it; we just had to put it together for 48 minutes,” Smart said. “And that’s something we’re still working on. I know it’s late in the season, and we probably should have figured it out already. But everyone’s trying to figure it out.”

It was clear they weren’t seeing it — playing with focused urgency — as Dunn beat all five Lakers on the court for a dunk in transition to put the Suns ahead 96-86 midway through the fourth.

Or when Jarred Vanderbilt turned the ball over on an inbounds pass midway through the second, putting the Suns on a 7-0 run.

Or the multiples Grayson Allen and Gillespie, who combined to shoot 12 of 27 on 3s, jumped free for open looks beyond the arc.

Yes, the Suns’ 44% shooting from beyond the arc (22 of 50) included hard drives, but the Lakers played a role in their own misfortunes by allowing Phoenix to get as many clean looks as they did.

“Our losses are louder than other teams because we are the Lakers,” coach JJ Redick said, “and because of the way we lose.”

Their losses are also loud because within those defeats similar problems occur.

How many times have players said the coaching staff had a great game plan before admitting they hadn’t done their job in executing it?

How many times has there been talk about a lack of physicality? And what will it take for the Lakers to be more consistent in that area?

“I don’t know,” Doncic said. “We just have to do it more.”

The Lakers won earlier this season despite some of their bad habits and obvious weaknesses.

While they have made progress in some areas, despite their injuries and the player availability carousel that continued from the start of the season until mid-February, many of those habits are still in place.

And they’re paying for it with a 19-20 record since Dec. 1.

“It worked at the beginning of the season, but now it doesn’t,” Smart said. “Guys have to adapt and find a new way to win. We told ourselves, and that’s, I think, the frustrating part, not just for us, I think for our coaches, I think (also) for our fans. We told ourselves, and we can’t keep doing that.”

Because if they do, the Lakers’ 2025-26 season will end much sooner than they want.