The Los Angeles Lakers lost heartbreakingly to the Phoenix Suns, losing on a last-second shot by going down 113-110. Yet another collapse is hitting a team that has struggled since the middle of the season, and now things are bad enough that veteran guard Marcus Smart has to clear the air about the loss.

“Our miscommunication… we just didn’t communicate a lot of those shots,” Smart told reporters in his post-game interview. “I think like eight of them, where it’s like just, we didn’t talk, we didn’t switch when we were supposed to, and they got the set, they feed, and have all day and knock it down. That’s on us, but you gotta get those guys credit, they ran their plays with execution to get those shots, and we just gotta be better.”

Smart didn’t blame bad luck or hot shooting, instead focusing on the Lakers’ defensive breakdowns. That communication powers great defenses in the NBA, something Smart himself has led in the past with the Boston Celtics, and something he clearly doesn’t see right now.

He didn’t stop there either. Basketball is a game of runs, and LA eventually made it close to come back despite blowing multiple defensive coverages earlier in the game. Smart pointed to a crucial six-point sequence as the moment that flipped the game for the Suns.

The Suns managed to get a three-pointer before immediately stealing the ball to knock down another three-pointer. Smart made it clear who he blamed with his next statement.

“That’s on us,” he said. “It’s nothing the coaches can do. The game plan, they had a great game plan for us. We just got to go ahead and execute.”

Head coach JJ Redick has caught a lot of flak for the Lakers’ poor play as the man at the helm, but Smart has now publicly come to his support. According to one of the team’s most vocal veterans, the plan was there, it was the execution that was missing.

Royce O’Neale’s Dagger Caps Suns Comeback Against Struggling Lakers

When LeBron James tipped in a miss to tie the score at 110, overtime felt inevitable, with just one possession left for the Lakers to cover. The Suns responded immediately, with Grayson Allen collapsing the defense by driving, Collin Gillespie making the extra pass, and Royce O’Neale knocking down a left wing three with 1.7 seconds left to seal a 13-point second-half comeback.

Phoenix finally bounced back from a tough offensive stretch. Over their last two games, the Suns had scored just 77 and 81 points, but today, they hit 22 of their 50 threes. Despite Luka Doncic scoring 41 points, adding eight rebounds and eight assists, the late-game execution completely fell apart, something that the Lakers have usually been stable at.

LA had momentum earlier in the game, starting the third with 11 straight points before the Suns came back with a 13-0 run of their own. This loss leaves LA just one game ahead of Phoenix for the #6 seed, with a rematch coming on April 10th.