The Lakers beat the Rockets, the Suns are next, and coach Ham's speaks on the stifling defense

It won't be easy, but the Lakers' next challenge is on Tuesday night for the In-Season Tournament quarterfinals against the Phoenix Suns, and if the team wants to win, they need to replicate their defensive work against the Rockets.

Coach Darvin Ham on the stifling defense against Houston: “The athleticism and size we have on the wings … we have a plethora of really quick, larger, athletic, and skilled wings. That’s what’s been the most challenging part of (this season), not having all of those guys in the lineup.”

The good news is that despite Gabe Vincent still being out, the team will have the rest of the players available, including Rui Hachimura who was set to return against the Rockets but didn't play.

With Cam Reddish and Jarred Vanderbilt on the court, the team has great defensive talent that should help stop Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.  Max Christie has also been valuable for the group.

Anthony Davis spoke on the Lakers defense when the team's healthy

"There's a lot of things that we can do when we're healthy on the defensive end," said Anthony Davis. The team got Jarred Vanderbilt back and with that, their defensive game has improved, despite not being his best game, which isn't strange as he is back after missing the first twenty games in the season.