Walker Kessler is taking accountability for the Lakers' defense in their loss against the Portland Trail Blazers. The red-hot Trail Blazers have rounded into form with Ja Morant's addition and Damian Lillard's return. They won 136-129. In post-game availability, Kessler gave his thoughts on the defensive breakdown.
“Yeah, we did a pretty good job in transition. We did a pretty good job limiting their second-chance points. But in the half court, we didn’t do a great job. Guys were getting downhill, shooting floaters. We were breaking down, giving up corner threes, above-the-break threes…We definitely gotta be better, and I gotta personally be a lot better on the defensive side.
He added, “I pride myself on being the leader on the defense, and I didn’t perform tonight. But we’ll figure it out. It’s a quick turnaround. Literally, we got a game in less than 24 hours, so it’s a good learning point, because our offense looks good. Scoring almost 130 points is pretty efficient, but we shouldn’t have lost scoring 130. Giving up almost 140 is not acceptable. But we’ll figure it out, and just keep learning from it.”
Kessler also spoke about the Blazers winning the rebound battle, 38-31.
Article Continues Below“Yeah, I think it was tough. The first half, we maybe gave up [seven offensive rebounds]. Yeah, I mean, that’s not terrible, but we gotta limit that. Personally, I gotta do a better job of pursuing the ball and being more aggressive to attack the ball. I started to figure it out a little, or not figure it out, but kinda get it back a little bit in the second half. But I gotta start that way and then be aggressive pursuing the ball. But we’ll figure it out.”
The Lakers look to retool as they face off against the Los Angeles Clippers in a back-to-back tonight.