Luka Dončić felt the Lakers ‘let go of the rope’ defensively against Nets

The Lakers had a strong start against the Nets, but they fell apart in the second quarter leading to disappointing loss.

During the beginning of the Lakers-Nets game, Los Angeles was in complete control.

They were ahead 28-16 after a quarter of play and seemed to be winning with ease. Then, in the second quarter, the Nets broke the game wide open, outscoring the Lakers 32-19 while hitting five 3-pointers during the period.

The Lakers ultimately lost the game and during his postgame press conference, Luka Dončić talked about the team getting too relaxed after a strong start.

“I think, like I said, we started the game good defending. I think they had like 16 points in the first quarter. But then we just kind of let go of the rope. We got comfortable and we should not have done that.”

With key players out, the Lakers couldn’t afford to “let go of the rope” even against the tanking Nets. This is the second game in a row that the conversations afterward have been about not staying focused or making out-of-character mistakes.

Unsurprisingly, the Lakers lost both games.

With the Lakers lacking bigs and having a defensive philosophy that’s generally about switching everything, this will only work if everyone is on the same page.

That means a complete effort from all five players on the court, making sure everyone is rotating correctly, closing out on shooters and crashing the boards.

In Monday’s loss, you saw less of this as Brookyln outrebounded LA 47-43, and the Lakers allowed the Nets to score 16 second-chance points.

With a tough March schedule beginning, this was an opportunity to bank a win, but the Lakers failed to do so.

Each loss can be a lesson, and the lesson from this one is that when you are up by double figures on the road, you must finish the job. Keep doing the things that got you ahead, and stay focused until the game is over.

It’s good that Luka, as a leader on this team, is aware of the Lakers' failures on Monday. It’ll be even nicer when he can clock this mid-game and ensure the Lakers don’t drop the result.

Luckily, there are still 19 games left, so Luka will have plenty more opportunities to grow with this team and demonstrate that nights like the one the Lakers had on Monday against the Nets will not be commonplace the rest of the way.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.