Rui Hachimura was not happy about his Los Angeles Lakers dropping their second matchup of the year against the Phoenix Suns by a score of 109-105 on Monday night.
Prior to the loss, the Lakers were undefeated at 3-0. To make matters worse, they took care of the Suns in their second game of the young season, downing the Kevin Durant-led franchise 123-116. Their original recipe for success against Phoenix offered no leftovers, but in turn got them burnt in their second attempt at cooking with fish grease, as ESPN’s Mark Jones says.
Rui Hachimura wants Lakers to “tighten up” after 109-105 loss to Suns
Per Spectrum SportsNet, Hachimura — who has been perhaps the brightest spot on the Lakers not named Anthony Davis or LeBron James this season — spoke on the loss, which was made worse due to Los Angeles letting Phoenix storm back from an 18-point deficit in the first quarter, (h/t: Matt Peralta of Lakers Nation):
“Yeah, especially since we just played against them and won the game. To come back, and we were up 20 points or whatever in the first quarter and then they came back and beat us. So it was a tough one. We kind of relaxed after being up 20 or whatever so we just got to tighten up. On to the next one,” Hachimura said.
The Gonzaga product was not fond of he and his teammates not flooring the gas after jumping out to a massive 26-8 lead midway through the first quarter. Hachimura himself balled out with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double on 8-18 shooting from the field, but his 44.4 percent field goal percentage did not meet his standards.
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Admittedly, James’ uncharacteristic 11-point outing on 3-14 shooting hurt Los Angeles. Had he been more efficient, his impact on the game could’ve easily caused at least a five-point swing on the scoreboard. No matter, the Lakers did not have enough to silence the Suns and prevent their three-headed monster in Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal from combining for 23 points in the final 12 minutes of action.
Hachimura coming down hard on himself and his teammates is an encouraging show of leadership and passion that should go a long way for the Lakers as the season draws on. They have a roster that could realistically win the championship next June, and that’ll only happen with accountability of such sort. The six-year veteran will look to help L.A. get back in the win column on Wednesday night against the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers.
