Rui Hachimura sheds light on the Lakers' inconsistency

You never know what version of the Los Angeles Lakers you’ll get. They can either steamroll past their opposition, hang on vs. contenders, or lose by 20 to a struggling team.

Midway through the season, the only thing you can be sure of when watching the Lakers is that LeBron James will score 20+ points. Needless to say, that kind of inconsistency has rarely gotten the job done in the NBA.

That was evident again in their lopsided loss to the Houston Rockets. Once again, they dug themselves into a hole early in the game and weren’t able to get back from it. That’s why Rui Hachimura believes this team needs to do a better job of setting the tone.

The Lakers Need To Start Better

“I think I was on the bench, but it started from the beginning of the game,” Hachimura said. “We have to set the tone every game, each game. Like I’ve said before, every team is trying to come at us every game, especially in an away game for us because it’s their home game, they want to show out. They want to prove themselves, especially the young teams.”

The Japanese forward also called out his team’s lack of defensive intensity. He wants to see some more pride from the players, as they have the potential to be a lockdown team on defense:

“Just energy. Especially today, the defense was off,” he added. “They were getting whatever they want, so at halftime, we watched the film and said we have to do it, nobody is gonna fix it for us. I think we had a good stretch for a little bit, but like I said, it was too late. I think the difference was that.”

The Lakers have been up and down all season, and that’s just not good enough. They still have time to figure things out and turn the campaign around, but the clock is ticking.