The Los Angeles Lakers have lost four of their five games after dropping a hard fought matchup against the Detroit Pistons 128-106 Tuesday night. 

It was LeBron's James' 41st birthday and the NBA veteran scored 17 points while Luka Dončić scored 30 points and 11 assists, but it wasn't enough to withstand the heavy physical play that the Pistons brought to the court. 

"They're a really good, physical basketball team. It's part of their DNA," Lakers head coach JJ Redick said (via The Sporting Tribune). 

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 27 points and 11 assists while Marcus Sasser scored a season-high 19 points. 

Tensions built late in the game as the Pistons ramped up the physicality, but at least to the Lakers, it appeared that the Pistons were skating by while avoiding foul calls. The Lakers were hit with two technical fouls as the game wound down partially due to their protests of the way that officials were calling the game. 

Compounding that tension was the amount of times the Lakers turned the ball over independently of any foul calls. Los Angeles turned the ball over 21 times, translating to 30 points for Detroit. 

"I think there's probably a level of frustration when you're turning the ball over and you think you're getting fouled. There's frustration there for sure. But then again... they're going to foul every possession. You've got to play through it," Redick said.

Redick experimented with another rotation Tuesday night with Austin Reaves out, starting Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart alongside James, Dončić and Deandre Ayton. 

The Lakers have been experimenting with several different roster configurations as they contend with injuries and try to mend some of the glaring issues that have been revealed in the team's construction, with defense and physicality chief among them. 

The constant shuffles make things difficult for the Lakers to find their footing and chemistry, but as Redick put it after the game, the Lakers are still searching for their identity and a consistent brand of basketball. 

"Still trying to figure that out [team identity] and I know that's maybe a cop-out. Probably is," Redick said. "I do know that we have had a lot of stops and starts... we've really tried to play the right way every night and have the right intent. The flow of lineups and rotations has been challenging for everybody, not just the coaches. It's a challenge for the players."

Redick continued, "Building an identity is difficult. [I] think about our team last year and this team is different and our identity will eventually be different. But, we didn't get that identity until late January, then we had to shift again. I don't think it's unnatural... I think that's hard to figure out with this team right now."