The talk in the Los Angeles Lakers locker room after their 114-95 loss to the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers was defense, or rather a lack thereof. The Clippers found their way to easy baskets seemingly at will - though a Chris Paul-led team will tend to do such things - and Lakers head coach Mike Brown wasn't happy about it.
"I thought there were too many times we allowed guys to have uncontested looks from the perimeter. If we rotate or give multiple effort the correct way and they knock down the shot, especially at this point in the season, I can live with it," Brown said after the game, as shown on the Fox Sports West broadcast. "What bothers me is when we had guys tonight not even contest shots. They looked at shooters and allowed them to shoot what I call 'horse shots.'"
In addition, the Lakers committed 21 turnovers, which led to 29 points for the Clippers. "We have to a better job with our principles," Brown said. "There were a few bright spots but not many."
One of the bright spots was center Andrew Bynum, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds in his 33 minutes. "I feel really good, my knees are fine. Right now it's just an issue of getting in a bit better shape so I can get up and down the court faster," Bynum said after the game. "I need to get my game legs so I can jump and be explosive when I catch the ball around the rim."
Brown called a timeout before a minute had elapsed in the third quarter after a wide-open three-point make by Chauncey Billups. Brown was unhappy with the defense on that play, and many other plays throughout the game. "If I had more timeouts, I would have used them all," Brown said.
The Lakers have two days to regroup before their rematch on Wednesday night, the preseason finale for both teams.
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