Lakers play defense with hands behind their backs because they were sick of being called for fouls

·Staff writer

14 December 2018 at 1:28 pm

The Los Angeles Lakers may have figured out a way to avoid fouls. During the team’s 126-111 loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday, some players decided to just play defense with their hands behind their backs.

LeBron James said it was the team’s way of making sure Chris Paul and James Harden couldn’t draw fouls, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“Just trying to defend without fouling,” said James, who briefly locked his hands behind his body on a Rockets possession in the third quarter. “That’s a point of emphasis any time you play Houston. They got guys that can sell calls really good — Chris [Paul] and James [Harden] — so you got to try to keep your hands out of the cookie jar.”

The team was clearly frustrated with the way fouls were being called during the contest. Lonzo Ball hinted at that, saying “You can’t touch them” after the game. Kyle Kuzma offered similar quotes, and later expressed his displeasure on Twitter.

Can we get fined if we tweet back at this account? https://t.co/dtJlwQTfXZ
— kuz (@kylekuzma) December 14, 2018

Lakers coach Luke Walton admitted that his players were trying to make a point with the display, according to ESPN.

“How hard is it to play defense like that? It’s tough,” Walton said. “I think they were just trying to make a point: ‘We’re not using our arms here. Stop calling fouls.'”

The team actually did a decent job keeping Paul away from the free-throw line. He shot just six free throws during the contest. He made five of them.

Harden, on the other hand, was a big problem. He made 15 of his 16 free-throw attempts and dropped 50 points on the Lakers during the win.

The Lakers will have plenty of time to work on their new defensive strategy before they face the Rockets again. The two teams meet again Jan. 19, giving Los Angeles a little over a month to run plenty of defensive drills with their hands behind their backs.

James Harden was a big problem for the Lakers on Thursday. (AP Photo)

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik