They’ll Need to Put a Stop to This

Another opponent scored more than 100 points against the Lakers, which no longer qualifies as news. It could be that way for a while.

“It’s going to be tough,� point guard Chucky Atkins said. “You’re looking at a team that really doesn’t have a defensive system that’s in place. We’ve been bad defensively pretty much all year. It’s not like you’re going to go out there and have a great defensive team in one game. It doesn’t happen overnight.�

It didn’t happen Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks, who defeated the Lakers, 114-112, at Staples Center.

The Lakers have given up 100 or more points in 47 games. Last season, that number was 29.

“We’re bad at communicating with one another, rotating to shooters,� Atkins said. “If you look at the way the games have been going, you don’t see a whole lot of people beating us off the dribble. It’s always off of pick-and-roll situations, somebody don’t step up, they rotate the ball, guys don’t rotate to the shooters, and they’re getting wide-open opportunities.

“And then when we do happen to play pretty decent defense and make teams miss, they end up getting the rebound back and putting the ball in. Tough situation.�

Neither Atkins nor Kobe Bryant had a memorable year defensively, and, as Coach Frank Hamblen often says, defense starts with the backcourt players. The Lakers have 492 steals after totaling 682 last season.

The frontcourt also has its holes. The Lakers had 379 blocked shots last season, 166 from Shaquille O’Neal, and held opponents to 44% shooting. They have 340 blocked shots this season and are allowing opponents to shoot 45.1%.

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Atkins said improvements were needed in other areas as well: “I think everybody needs to come here with a new attitude as far as not necessarily playing for personal stats, but playing for one reason and that’s to win at any cost.� ... Bryant returned Sunday after missing a game to be with his wife, Vanessa, who is experiencing an ectopic pregnancy. “Doing much better,� Bryant said. “We want to thank everybody for their prayers, for their support. It’s been a tough time.� ... Hamblen on whether he did the right thing by agreeing to coach the Lakers: “Not everybody has a chance to have the worst record in the history of being a Laker coach. I guess I’ll always be a trivia question.� Hamblen fell to 10-27 after Sunday’s loss.

TONIGHT

at Golden State, 7:30, Channel 9

Site -- The Arena in Oakland.

Radio -- 570, 1330.

Records -- Lakers 34-46, Warriors 32-48.

Record vs. Warriors -- 3-0.

Update -- The Warriors are the only team the Lakers could sweep in a four-game season series. The Warriors are averaging 114.4 points in their last seven games.