Dončić calls for increased toughness after a disappointing defeat.
The Los Angeles Lakers had a tough night on Tuesday as they fell to the Detroit Pistons 128-106 at Crypto.com Arena, and it was a rough way to end the calendar year while also spoiling LeBron James' 41st birthday celebration.
After the game, star guard Luka Dončić spoke about what went wrong and what needs to change moving forward.
The Slovenian guard pointed to the team's lack of toughness in matching Detroit's style of play as a big problem that needs to be fixed.
"We've got to definitely match their physicality," Dončić said after the loss. "That's the whole point. We got to match how they play. You saw the refs let it go, so we should play with physicality, for sure."
A Bad Fourth Quarter
The Lakers actually kept things close through the first half, only trailing by five points heading into the break.
However, the second half was a completely different story as the Pistons took control and never looked back.
The fourth quarter was especially ugly for Los Angeles, as the team scored just 18 points while giving up 32 to Detroit.
The Pistons went on a 16-6 run that stretched from the third quarter into the fourth, and at one point they led by as many as 26 points.
Detroit dominated in the paint, outscoring the Lakers 74-44 in that area while the Lakers' undersized frontline had no answers for the physical Pistons attack.
Dončić Struggles With Turnovers
While Dončić led the Lakers in scoring with 30 points and dished out 11 assists, his performance was far from clean.
He turned the ball over eight times on the night, which played a big part in the loss. When asked about whether LeBron James should handle the ball more to cut down on turnovers, Dončić kept it simple.
"Too many turnovers," Dončić said. "Gotta stop losing the ball."
The star guard has been dealing with some tough shooting nights in December, and he has missed four games this month due to various ailments.
He shot just 9-of-22 from the floor and 3-of-11 from three-point range against the Pistons, which shows that his efficiency has been off lately.
He's averaging 21.6 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.9 rebounds over his seven December games, which is well below his season average of 33.7 points per game.
Where Things Stand
With the loss, the Lakers dropped to 20-11 on the season and now sit in first place in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the Pistons improved to 25-8 and remain the top seed in the Eastern Conference behind the strong play of Cade Cunningham, who finished with 27 points and 11 assists.
The Lakers have now lost four of their last five games, and every single loss this season has come by double digits, which shows that when things go bad for this team, they tend to go really bad.
Head coach JJ Redick admitted after the game that the team is still trying to figure out its identity.
Los Angeles will look to bounce back when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night to start the new year.