Another lackluster effort as the Lakers lose to the Suns

the idea, JJ Redick said before the game, would be for Lakers to get back to the plan he laid out when he became a coach. This plan, to take the long view and favor process over results, helped the team win 10 of its first 14 games.

“We’re all competitive. I’m competitive. We’ve got to be about the process and doing things the right way and building that consistency,” he said Tuesday night. “I believe if our group does that, we’ll have good results and results we can live with.”

But after two days of hammering home a need to be physical, two days after being badly beaten by a rival in a third quarter in which they “stopped playing” in their own coach’s estimation, the Lakers were once again unmarked on the defensive end.

Facing a potent team in Phoenix, one they’re up against both in the West and in their NBA Cup bracket, the Lakers were outclassed again in the second half, losing 127-100 to the Suns at the Footprint Center.

They have lost three games in a row.

Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 25 points and 15 rebounds, while LeBron James had 18 points and 10 assists, although he had five turnovers. D’Angelo Russell scored 16 off the bench, his first game in double figures since Nov. 15.

The Lakers play their final group game of the NBA Cup on Friday at home against Oklahoma City and need a win (and likely a loss by the Suns to the San Antonio Spurs) to have a chance at the knockout stages due to point-differential tiebreakers .

“When you’re competing, it’s almost impossible to think about the big picture when you get kicked,” guard Austin Reaves said. “ But when it’s all over, you sit down, you think about it, and we’re 10-7 right now. I think we are still in a good place. … But at the moment it’s a shame, because who even wants to think about the big picture at the moment? You think about trying to win a game.”

As in their previous loss against Denverthe Lakers were run off the floor, their body language as terrible as their performance. After Denver outscored them 37-15 in the third quarter Saturday, the Lakers lost the third to the Suns 36-18, and their spirits again looked broken, though Redick said his team kept competing.

Read more: Lakers look to step up defense with return to physical play

“Our guys kept playing. Our guys kept playing,” he reiterated. “It was a tough night.”

Perhaps Redick saw more than the score suggested, the Lakers’ offense and defense took turns putting the other at a disadvantage. In the third, the Lakers made just six of 21 from the field, including two of 11 from three-point range. The Suns shot 60.9% in the quarter.

“Again, we just didn’t score in the third quarter,” Davis said. “And our defensive communication was lax. And they were able to get some open shots and open dunks and shots at the rim. And then, now we’ve got guys in rotation and they’re sprinting out to their shooters for threes. I think our competitive spirit is always there every night. I think nobody comes out and says, ‘We don’t want to compete.’ But I think it can look like that or feel like that when we’re just not on the same page because we’re not talking. So we just have to get better at that part.”

The fight the Lakers lacked in the second half materialized early, even after Kevin Durant, returning from a two-week injury layoff, opened the game with a three. But the focus was not there often enough or long enough.

They botched a coverage late in the first quarter to give Phoenix an open three. They gave up an uncontested layup at the end of the third.

Read more: New season, same result: Lakers lose to Nuggets after third quarter collapse

“We might just have to look at some things defensively, especially against really good offensive teams, about what our overall kind of strategies are,” Redick said after. “They kind of got what they wanted.”

The Lakers give up 118.2 points per 100 possessions, which is fourth most in the league.

“We’re at the bottom of the pack,” Davis said. “I don’t say, ‘Oh man, top five, top three.’ We should be able to get to the middle of the pack and that can change a lot for us. So we’ll take it one game at a time and try to be proud of ourselves defensively.”

The litany of defensive issues — transition issues, keeping teams off the glass, playing with power at the rim — added toothlessness at the rim as the Suns routinely went to the basket while the Lakers stood and watched.

The game only got worse from there, Redick pulling the starters midway through the fourth. And in a final blow, center Jaxson Hayes, back in the lineup after missing two weeks with an ankle injury, appeared to aggravate it late before limping toward the locker room.

The Lakers have a short turnaround and play the Spurs on Wednesday in San Antonio.

“Obviously you get frustrated at times, but you never get frustrated with the process,” James said. “It is what it is. And just keep working.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.