Byron Scott rips Lakers' defense: 'We just sucked, simple as that'

Say what you will about Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott, but he's always preached defense above all else.

So after the Lakers conceded 132 points - including 80 in the paint - to the Sacramento Kings on Friday, Scott was none too pleased with his team's effort.

"We just sucked," Scott told ESPN's Baxter Holmes of his team's defense. "Simple as that."

The Kings hung 40 points in the first quarter and hit 74 by halftime. That immediately sunk the Lakers, who fell to 0-2 on the season after conceding 112 points to the budding Karl-Anthony Towns and his Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.

More than anything, it was the Lakers' lack of resilience on the interior that bothered their coach. The Kings have the league's best low-post scorer in DeMarcus Cousins, but that's no excuse for allowing 80 points in the paint.

"I've never seen 80 points in the paint in a game," said a bewildered Scott.

The Lakers' trend of poor defensive play tracks back to last last season, when they allowed 108 points per 100 possessions - the second-worst mark in the league.

This summer's addition of an elite rim protector in Roy Hibbert was supposed to stabilize their back line, but that has yet to bear out. Hibbert has allowed opponents to shoot 50 percent at the rim and he's grabbed just 15.6 percent of available defensive rebounds.

Even if Hibbert were on his game, the Lakers' shoddy collection of perimeter defenders would likely sabotage their defense anyway. Kobe Bryant is too old to be effective guarding opposing wings, while players like Jordan Clarkson and D'Angelo Russell are still learning the game. Then there are the two bench gunners in Nick Young and Lou Williams, both focused solely on offense.

For all that, Scott doesn't know why his defense is failing.

"I don't. I wish I did," he said. "If I did, I would solve it."

Given the hand he's been dealt, a solution likely doesn't exist.