Lakers look to ramp up defense with return to physical play
Lakers forward Cam Reddish, left, and guard Austin Reaves try to steal the ball from Jazz center John Collins during a game last week. Just little things to get into them, knock them out of the rhythm a little bit so they can’t just walk through everything.” Hayes, who has missed the Lakers’ last six games because of an ankle injury, is set to return Tuesday in time for the Lakers to continue their NBA Cup pool-play schedule at Phoenix. We got to be a better defensive rebounding team and transition as well.” Lakers coach JJ Redick flipped his practice plan on Monday to reinforce some of those habits, keeping coaches off the court for live periods and allowing players to compete against one another ahead of their third game with the Suns this season. “It’s interesting when you go back and watch the two regular-season games, I thought we were really physical on the defensive end,” Redick said. Through Sunday’s games, the Lakers were 27th in the NBA in defensive rating, ahead of only Washington, New Orleans and Chicago.
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