LOS ANGELES — The Lakers knew their defense needed to change.
They were coming off a four-week stretch, from Oct. 30 to Tuesday, with the league’s worst defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) and ranked No. 27 on that end of the floor for the season after Tuesday’s road loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Their opponents were having 30-point quarters on a regular basis.
Coach JJ Redick called for improved physicality. Anthony Davis criticized the Lakers’ lack of communication on defense.
The necessary changes have been made, with the Lakers putting together two of their best defensive performances of the season in their last two games ahead of a four-game road trip that starts Sunday against the Utah Jazz.
The Lakers will play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, the second night of a back-to-back, before matching up against the Miami Heat on Wednesday and the Atlanta Hawks on Friday to close out the trip.
“We have a lot to build on defensively over the last two games,” Redick said Friday night after the Lakers’ 101-93 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. “That was as connected as our group has been on that end of the floor since the first game of the season.
“Really outstanding job with a lot of the stuff we talked about. We played well enough and hard enough to win against the best team in the West. So there’s definitely good stuff.”
The Lakers, who have a season-long defensive rating of 117.2 for the league’s sixth-worst mark (No. 25), had a defensive rating of 109.8 against the Thunder – their fifth-best single-game defensive rating of the season.
This came just one game after the Lakers had their best defensive performance in their road win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, recording a season-best 105.5 defensive rating, according to Cleaning The Glass.
In addition to their starting lineup change, putting rookie wing Dalton Knecht in the first unit alongside Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Davis, the Lakers have also leaned on switching more 1-5 defensively.
So far, the results have been encouraging.
“Every game has its own challenges and we game-plan for each game, depending on personnel,” James said. “Defensively, we’ve been really good the last couple games.”
INJURY UPDATES
Reaves’ status for Sunday’s game wasn’t known as of Saturday afternoon after taking a hard fall following being fouled during the second quarter of the matchup against the Thunder. Reaves rejoined the team midway through the third after going back to the locker room for the final 2½ minutes of the second, halftime and the first half of the third.
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The Lakers announced Saturday morning that backup center Jaxson Hayes will be re-evaluated in about 10-14 days after team doctors said he reinjured his right ankle late in the loss to the Suns.
Hayes, who made his return to the lineup Tuesday after missing the previous six games because of a sprained right ankle, hurt his ankle again after dunking with just over a minute left in the game. ESPN reported that Hayes had resprained his ankle.
The team also said that Bronny James’ left heel contusion was examined Friday, with it being determined that his heel is healing and that he will begin his ramp-up process and be re-evaluated in a week.
LAKERS AT JAZZ
When: 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City
TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet/710 AM