Lakers-Suns Reaction: LA Loses Third Straight To Shorthanded Phoenix, Trending In Wrong Direction
Jovan Buha reacts to the Los Angeles Lakers’ 113-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026.
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
4:37 Buha’s Big Picture: LA is trending in the wrong direction at the wrong time
15:17 Notable performers
25:53 Stat of the night: 22 3-pointers allowed (second-most this season)
26:25 Takeaway No. 1: Deandre Ayton is not Clint Capela
32:47 Takeaway No. 2: Questionable late-game lineup decisions
36:58 Takeaway No. 3: LA might just not have a good starting lineup
40:20 Q&A
2:02:08 Outro
#losangeleslakers #lakers
29 Comments
When you say they are a lottery team without Booker, you're being disingenuous. They had four guys on the floor at all times last night who can knock down three point shots at a higher rate than almost anyone on the Lakers. They had an especially hot shooting night and were setting illegal screens to get their shooters a look.
It's a bad loss, but when your star goes 41/8/8 and you still only score 110, you definitely have problems in your offensive system that need to be addressed. Kennard was playing really well and still didn't get an open look from three. It's really not that complicated to set screens for a 50% three-point shooter but JJ just doesn't believe in it evidently.
I really appreciate the lack of 'media cycle' fluff on this channel. Most outlets are just regurgitating the same lazy, manufactured narratives for clicks.
The recent drama about the Buss family selling drama with LeBron is a perfect example—I’m glad you stayed away from it. It’s exactly why I watch Buha’s Block. Please keep up the great work and keep sticking to the topics that actually matter to you.
fire this stupid coach
This is by far lebrons lowest usage in his career, he’s been standing in a corner also while Austin and Luka dominate the ball, his whole rhythm is off because he’s not involved nearly as much as the other two guys Jovan
Luka “tweaked his back” lol no he’s just bad at defense
Follow my lead lakers fans! I stop watching and caring after that inexcusable loss to the magic and the terrible news that ROB was staying in his position of power next year! The FO punted and don’t care about this season. The coaching staff and Roster is not it! Let it go…. And move on to next season folks! The mental health ain’t worth it 😅
At this point playing adou bronny dalton kobe timme makes sense we aint winning anything, and tbh we might get bounced in the play in
Ayton has no motor. I couldn't believe they signed him. This is his third team. Same performance. He plays like he's 50.
Yes, Luka had 41 pts, but he doesn't get others involved. This is Bron's lowest usage. AR's points have dropped significantly. JJ has to find a way to get Bron and AR involved. I'm concerned about the GS game Sat.
DA is a bum
Le Bron is not going to go away quietly.
Luka could have scored 60 points against the Suns and the Lakers would still have lost the game.
Deandre Ayton is a diva.
3 straight loss, and with teams that are short of good players. Clutch loss that could have been won.
Most of the talking heads and fan base aren't ready to have a real conversation. Luka is the real issue. Luka distorts the offense so much. It makes it hard for other players to get into a rhythm. There's players out there who's games aren't rhythm based, but they're far and few between.
AR is playing too much golf. He's looking tired even at the beginning the Game. He's a scratch golfer and plays almost daily.
What's Ur view of the Magic game controversy where Luka said "Bron said pass, I passed"
A factor is Luka and AR have become close friends, on and off the court.
In the 10 games before AR was injured, He scored 41, 43, and 51. The first or second game after returning from injury, he scored 35 in 22 minutes.
My Lakers Analysis:
1.) The Luka-AR dynamic duo is not a real thing. I have said this on multiple occasions, it was all an illusion. When LeBron was out, the team was fully healthy and they had an incredibly easy schedule. The good teams they beat were missing their star players (They avoided Ant, Joker and Wemby!!!) and they beat up on all the inferior teams. Since that first 17 games, Luka and AR without Bron on the court has been BAD! The metrics bare that out. So all the people peddling that narrative are wrong.
2.) This offense is much better when the ball is moving. The trio of Bron, Luka and AR does actually work. We have seen it work before, especially last year. But this year they aren't moving the ball. There is a lot of iso ball and Luka and JJ have to take some blame for that. Luka plays a lot of iso and doesn't move the ball as much as he could. JJ has told Luka he needs the ball in hands 24/7. I want people to realize something, why would you let Luka (who is not in good shape and gets tired quickly) have the ball 24/7, when you have two other amazing ball handlers on the court in AR and Bron. It makes no sense to have them standing around and not touching the ball at times. The ball needs to move more!!!
3.) JJ Reddick is having a bad coaching year. Our record should be better and our offense should be top 7 in the league. We have Luka, AR and Bron on the same team. The offense should never score below 100 and yet that has happened a few times this year. I believe with a different coach this trio would be averaging 80-85 a game. It has underperformed and I do not believe it is solely on the players. If anything, I think JJ has failed to utilize them correctly and I'm waiting for the herd to start calling him out.
4.) HEALTH. There are too many injury prone players on this team. If LeBron is still one of your iron men at 41 then you have a really big issue. Hayes will get his chance to get more playing time and all of sudden he is injured. Rui has these random injuries that you never see. Ayton has these random injuries that you never see. A fly lands on Luka and he is out for a few games. There is no continuity. In the offseason the lakers need to target players who can stay healthy consistently.
5.) The Ayton experiment should end. The inconsistency, the moodiness, and the horrific defense due to his low basketball I.Q. It has to come to an end. I believe Hayes (if he can stay healthy), Vando (JJ is doing it again, not playing him even though he is arguably our best defender. This team does better when he is used more) and Timmie need to take his minutes. I don't care how you split it up but he needs to be benched as a warning and lets see what the others can give us.
6.) Lakers defense isn't that bad but with the lineups that JJ runs out there, it looks horrific at times. JJ's rotations are exacerbating the issue. He will play Luka and AR together with no defenders at all and that isn't a good idea. For example, when Vando plays 20 plus minutes the defense is significantly better. Yet JJ has effectively benched him yet again and sure enough, we are struggling to get rebounds or stops.
7.) Rob Pelinka. For the life of me…I cannot figure out why Rob didn't trade or add one defensive/rebounding/high motor Center to this lineup. I would've done everything to add Day'Ron Sharpe to this team during the trade deadline but not Rob. It was clear as day they needed that and they have been completely ignoring it. It is almost as if he doesn't want this team to thrive.
8.) Last but not least, Lakers are mentally fatigued right now. You can see it during this stretch. The players are frustrated. This is when you need a leader and I don't think Luka is a true leader. He is a prolific player but not a leader of men. I think it is time that Luka, Bron and AR get together between themselves and have a discussion about what is going on.
1:20:37 The narratives Luka has to deal with is another reason why I'm genuinely upset with Lakers front office because they are setting him up to fail at this point and it's truly unfair
Same with AD when he was dealing with "soft" "faking injury" narrative even though he was carrying the franchise's defense for 4 straight seasons on his own while also playing the most games he had ever played in his career even despite real injuries that would've been lessened if he had better point of attack defenders and lowman help
In crunch time scenarios on defense, neither LeBron nor Luka should be on the floor. That’s the second game in a row that both of those 2 have had breakdowns defensively which has led to wide open 3s. Suns game was more on LeBron since Luka played better defense than he expected, but Orlando Luka didn’t even try and LeBron still overhelped but it’s a little more excusable with how bad Luka was containing the drive. But JJ has shown he is unwilling to make offensive / defensive subs for even role players, let alone having the guts to bench LeBron or Luka to help the team
Lakers, please do something, the best you can do in the name of the game is–trade Luka!.
He can't breathe right now, so let him go!
1:33:29 Austin is a lead guard with a green light on this team– he can go get the ball whenever, Jovan. How about we look at the film and point out how tired he looks trying to get open against the best defenders against 4 of the leagues top 15 defenses?
The dip in production yes could also be attributed to getting right after an injury which is why I was so confused why you were all jumping on Luka's back after his hot start when he is obviously dealing with calf issues, knee issues, back issues, shoulder issues, for a couple games he was grabbing his chest after he got elbowed there.
Only luka has shame on this team
Ayton was a -24 in 23 minutes and against his former too. Atrocious!
I mean when Grayson Allen outscores your whole bench. You gonna lose
Can we stop saying JJ is a good coach? Maybe he will get there someday, but this team is a mess and they are trending down. It's one thing when you can't beat the top teams in the league, but when you can't beat a depleted PHX squad, with your team whole, you have major issues.
100% vando, la ravia and Marcus in for a stop Nz beyond me why kennard isnt primed for a clutch 3. I mean hes the hest shooter in the league. I mean even if hes not used he will inevitably draw a boat load of attention allowing space elsewhere.