Deandre Ayton, Rui Hachimura make promises to fix Lakers atrocious defense

Amid the Los Angeles Lakers’ current three-game losing streak, several issues have come to the forefront, with the defense being chief among them. The Lakers haven’t exactly been a good defensive team all season, but those issues were masked amid their strong start to the year. Following Lakers practice on Saturday, both Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura vowed to do their part to help fix the problems on defense, as per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

For Deandre Ayton, his defensive contributions are not only as an anchor in the middle, but his communication with his teammates as well.

“Holding my guys accountable, especially starting with me,” Ayton said. “No matter how the game is going, we stick to our principles no matter what. . .this is how we’re going to play on defense – hard and [with] second efforts.”

For Rui Hachimura, energy and focus were the key things for him to focus on, on the defensive end.

“I have to be more focused on bringing the energy, being physical,” Hachimura said. “That kind of stuff is going to help.”

The Lakers are looking to snap their losing streak as they host the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. Coming into the game, the Lakers are 10th in the league in opponents points per game at 112.2. They are 15th in the league in defensive rating at 114.7. In the past four games, the Lakers have given up their season high in points (135 on Dec. 18 against the Utah Jazz), and second-highest mark (132 on Dec. 23 against the Suns).

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