The Los Angeles Daily News (Elliot Teaford) reports: There are multiple reasons why the Lakers’ defense hasn’t been as effective as it was to start the season. No matter which you choose, the bottom line is that the Lakers aren’t dominating teams because they aren’t playing the same caliber of defense. The Lakers started their three-game trip by giving up a season-high 118 points in a one-point loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. They continued by giving up 102 during a 12-point victory Wednesday over the Philadelphia 76ers. They played the first seven games of the season without giving up 100 points in a game. But they have surrendered 100 or more points in four of their past six games and are giving up an average of 95.9 points going into tonight’s against the Washington Wizards. “We’ve talked about the kind of intensity we want to play with defensively,” Bryant said. “We have a tendency to turn it up in spurts as of late as opposed to coming out and doing it from the top, and that’s something we’ve needed to address.”
