It was a rough night for Rui Hachimura and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday as they were thoroughly outplayed by the Phoenix Suns.
Hachimura and the rest of the roster was stifled by a Phoenix defense that never relented, forcing several turnovers and turning that into easy transition points. No matter what the Lakers seemed to do, the Suns always had an answer and they could never quite get over the hump on the second night of a back-to-back.
Hachimura has been entrenched as the fifth starter this season, but he had his worst game to date as he took only one shot and had zero points and one rebound in 23 minutes in the loss to Phoenix.
Afterwards, Hachimura admitted it was tough not to feel involved offensively and acknowledged that his role will fluctuate with the players on the roster but the team needs to keep moving the back.
“I don’t remember when I had the ball this whole game. I mean, that’s happened,” he said. “Playing with these guys, I signed up for that. I understand it… But with this, I think the whole team, everyone knows and understands, that’s not how we’re gonna win. Those games that we’ve been winning, we’ve been passing to each other, we’ve been trusting each other and playing for each other to win those games. So it’s a tough one for me, but it is what it is. It’s one of those games where I gotta just [forget it] and move on to the next game.”
Hachimura seemed to be alluding to the basketball primarily being in Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James’ hands, so he’s almost at the team’s mercy when it comes to generating his own looks. Hachimura has a reliable midrange and outside jumper, but the Suns turned the Lakers over so much that it was rare to see them go an offensive possession going through all their reads.
By his own admission, Hachimura is more focused on defense this season, but it still doesn’t excuse his lack scoring punch. With the upcoming schedule getting tougher, Los Angeles will need all hands on deck to stay afloat in the Western Conference standings.
Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart praise Rui Hachimura’s two-way play
Rui Hachimura came to the Lakers known for his scoring, particularly in the midrange area. However, Hachimura has shown more consistent effort on the defensive end during the 2025-26 campaign.
Hachimura’s defensive efforts are paying off as both Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart offered praise for his two-way play so far this year.
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