The LA Lakers suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season, following their 132-108 defeat against the Phoenix Suns. After the game, guard Marcus Smart delivered a heartfelt message to the Lakers' locker room in light of their recent struggles.In his post-game interview, Smart urged his teammates to raise their level, warning that statistics would be irrelevant when opponents would be out to “kill” them every night."It doesn't matter what the percentages say, it doesn't matter what the numbers say," Smart said. "You can't go by that. We gotta go by understanding that we wear the Lakers across our jersey and everybody's coming to try to kill us."The former DPOY's passionate message stemmed from the Lakers' loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Their second defeat in a row, the defeat was a tough one, as the Lakers had a meltdown at the Mortgage Matchup Center.After trailing by 10 in the first half, the Suns took control in the third quarter by outscoring the Lakers 45–29. Although the purple and gold won the fourth, the damage was already done as Los Angeles slumped to a 24-point defeat.The upset followed a 103–88 loss to the LA Clippers, as the Lakers wrapped up their four-game road trip with a 2–2 record. Los Angeles also felt the absence of Luka Doncic, with the Slovenian sidelined by a lower-leg contusion.The Lakers return home on Thursday to host the Houston Rockets, looking to halt their recent skid. With the OKC Thunder beginning to drop games, Los Angeles (19–9) will be keen to keep pace at the top, currently sitting fourth and six games off the lead.Marcus Smart points to the Phoenix Suns’ key strengths as they continue to trouble the LA LakersThe Phoenix Suns cruised to a 132–108 victory over the Lakers on Tuesday, moving ahead 2–1 in the regular-season series.With Los Angeles again struggling against them this season, Marcus Smart pointed to the Suns’ key strengths during his post-game remarks."They play really hard. They play together and they leave it all out there," Smart said (Timestamp: 0:18). "No matter what happens, they keep going, and they do a really good job of that. It’s something we’ve got to fix on our end and take a little bit out of their book in that standpoint."Tuesday’s game marked their final meeting this year, though the two sides will face each other twice more this season, in February and April.