The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t had that many setbacks this season, but it seems like whenever they do, a new potentially fatal flaw is exposed. Flaws that could stifle any hopes they have of competing for a chance to lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals. 

Following Thursday’s 132-119 loss in the NBA Cup quarterfinals that eliminated the Lakers from contention, coach JJ Redick conceded that it does feel like something is exposed in every loss, but he also realizes that there aren’t many teams that don’t have an opening to take advantage of.

“There are very few teams that don't have something that you can expose,” Redick said “And we consistently got exposed by the same things.”

In terms of what went right for the Lakers on Wednesday, the team got a remarkable 28-point turn-back-the-clock game from Marcus Smart off the bench, but that was about it. The rest of the production from the unit was lackluster, and the Spurs’ defensive strategy on Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves could prove to be an effective foil, should other teams decide to implement it.

“I think (Marcus Smart) came in with a lot of energy,” Redick said. “A couple sort of rushed possessions offensively, but in terms of the drive and care factor defensively, definitely had it. And then he was able to make some shots in the second half. Jake (LaRavia) played eight minutes, Gabe (Vincent) got one shot. We've had a couple of these games.”

Redick then explained exactly what the Spurs did to keep Doncic and Reaves at bay, though he admitted it wasn’t too unlike what the Phoenix Suns threw at them in a 125-108 defeat on Dec. 1.

“It was similar in that way to the Phoenix game, where they're playing at a deeper drop and sort of forcing Luka, AR to shoot those non-rim paint twos. Not putting two on the ball and not having to rely on the low man Not putting two on the ball and not having to rely on the low man, so there's no weak side stuff.”

Regardless, Redick has his work cut out ahead of the holidays.

“So in terms of starting the blender, that's the coverage that allows teams to play two on two against us,” Redick said. “We had a little success with Stack in the first half, but we’ve got to figure that out for sure.”