Lakers play like Grinches on Christmas for third straight loss

Christmas is supposed to be the time for giving and sharing. That's not how the Los Angeles Lakers have treated the ball this holiday season.

The Lakers tallied only 19 assists in a 119-96 Christmas Day loss to the Houston Rockets. It was their third straight defeat and their third straight low-scoring, low-assist offensive game in a holiday performance that was more Grinch than Santa Claus.

The Lakers are bogging down on offense

Austin Reaves left the game with an injury at halftime, after scoring 12 points, but the Lakers struggled even with him, putting up only 53 points in the first half. That's on the heels of an 88-point performance in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday, and putting up only 108 points in a loss to the Phoenix Suns Tuesday.

The common thread is a lack of ball movement. The Lakers had 22 assists against the Suns and only 16 against the Clippers. Although Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves are all dynamic individual scorers, the team as a whole plays an isolation-heavy brand of basketball, often with Doncic and James taking turns dominating the ball.

Against a quality defense like the Rockets, that's a poor recipe for success. Especially when the Lakers get pounded on the boards, with Houston getting 48 rebounds to the Lakers' 25. Alperen Sengun finished with 12 rebounds, as much as the Lakers' entire starting lineup combined.

Luka Doncic and the Lakers have too many turnovers for their limited passes

Doncic had seven assists Thursday, but six turnovers. He's averaging 4.3 turnovers per game, his worst mark in four seasons. One benefit of working in isolation should be to limit turnovers, but the Lakers still average 15.3 per game, 12th-worst in the NBA.

The Lakers aren't just a bottom-five team in assists. They make the second-fewest passes in the NBA, meaning they're more reliant than most teams on their stars making plays one-on-one. Thursday, they had to face All-Defensive guard Amen Thompson, a menace when it comes to on-ball defense. Thompson also scored 26 points, a game-high, while Kevin Durant put up 25 — plus eight assists.

It may be that leaning heavily on their biggest scorers is taking a toll, as Doncic and Reaves have battled nagging injuries this season. James missed the beginning of the season with back problems and turns 41 Dec. 30. But it could simply be that their approach doesn't work as well against quality defenses, something that could be a huge problem in the playoffs.

Their willingness to pass needs to grow three sizes, like the Grinch's heart. Along with their heart.