JJ Redick says Lakers need 'more defensive pride' after shocking loss to Pistons | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

The Los Angeles Lakers had a rocky start to the season and their disappointments culminated in a 115-103 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

After the loss, head coach JJ Redick said one problem for Los Angeles was the defense's poor start to games.

“We need to start the game with a little more pride on defense,” Redick said, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

Through the first few weeks of the season, the Lakers posted the fourth-worst defensive rating in the league at 117.8, ahead of only the Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets. They are also at the bottom of the league in terms of opponents' points in the league and can score 53.7 points per game in the league.

Anthony Davis was solid defensively, averaging two blocks per game, but the rest of the Lakers' fullbacks were subpar.

Los Angeles, which fell to 4-3 with Monday's loss, was able to somewhat make up for its poor defense with good offense. The Lakers have the fifth-best offensive rating at 117.8.

That's a significant improvement from last season, when Los Angeles was mediocre offensively under Darvin Ham, and a result that was somewhat expected when an offensive-minded player like Redick took over as head coach.

But a good offense can't completely make up for a bad defense, and that showed on Monday when Detroit scored its second-most points all season and improved to 3-5.

Luckily for the Lakers, they still have 75 games left this season and plenty of time to figure out their defense. Redick believes improving defensively starts with playing with more “pride,” and he hopes his players continue to achieve that in the future.