After the Los Angeles Lakers 40-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, head coach Byron Scott was extremely hard on his team.
After the Lakers second blowout loss to the Thunder in a week, this one by 35 points, Scott had a different view on his team’s effort.
According to Baxter Holmes of ESPN, Scott believed the Lakers played hard, but simply couldn’t keep up with the Thunder:
Lakers coach Byron Scott: "I thought we really tried to play hard." Said OKC just had a different gear.
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) December 24, 2015
The Lakers had a good run in the second quarter behind Kobe Bryant’s 13 points and actually had the lead at one point, but trailed by 11 at halftime. The Thunder would start the second quarter on a 22-0 run, however, quickly putting a competitive game out of reach.
The Thunder are one of the top teams in the NBA and many put them right with the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs as the class of the Western Conference. When they turn it up a notch, very few teams can keep up, especially a young one like the Lakers.
The important thing for the Lakers is to continue to give maximum effort on a consistent basis. As they gain experience, they will surely improve on the court, but effort is something that can’t be coached or taught and if they can keep that up, the results may begin to change over time.