The Los Angeles Lakers lost for the first time this season Tuesday night, falling 136-129 to the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena. A day later, Collin Sexton is facing criticism for his play in 14 minutes off the bench.

Lakers Lounge’s Anthony Irwin was one of the analysts to weigh in. His point concerns how Sexton played alongside Austin Reaves.

NBA World Reacts to Collin Sexton’s Performance

Sexton finished with 9 points on 4-of-11 shooting, 4 assists and 3 turnovers. His 11 shots were the third-most on the team, behind Luka Dončić’s 22 and Reaves’ 13.

Reaves played 39 minutes and scored 26 points with 7 assists and no turnovers. Dončić led all scorers with 41 points as the Lakers shot 56% from the field. Sexton was a minus-8, while Reaves finished even and Dončić was a plus-7.

The Lakers led 73-68 at halftime and 103-102 after three quarters before the Trail Blazers, now 3-0, won the fourth 34-26.

Irwin posted his verdict Wednesday: “In rewatching last night’s game, boy, it felt like a lot of Sexton during his minutes with Austin and WOOF that was waaaaaaaaay too much Collin Sexton lol.”

Dion Apollo made a more specific claim about the two guards: “Sexton waived off Austin Reaves 2-3 times.”

Richard Staple, also an analyst, had a message for Lakers coach JJ Redick: “When Collin is in a mode where he feels like he’s running the ship, JJ gotta reel him in. That stretch to end the third was icky.”

The Trail Blazers outscored the Lakers 34-30 in that quarter.

Staple’s criticism extended to Reaves: “I need Reaves to also be more aggressive and demand the ball.” On Sexton, he added: “He wasn’t in rhythm, not in the flow of the offense and was visibly trying to force it.”

Others were blunter. Lakers fan page The Pettiest Lakers Fan posted: “The Collin Sexton experience is whiplash.”

Coopz, another journalist, went further: “You can cut Collin Sexton now. A losing basketball player all round.”

Sexton joined the Lakers in July on a two-year, $19.2 million deal, and is earning $9.4 million this season with a player option for the second season, per ESPN.

Sexton missed all five of his 3-point attempts. Redick, speaking after the game, stood by Sexton’s shooting:

“We kept up, outside of really a few minutes there to start the second quarter and then they started with a zone in the fourth. We got wide open 3s and none of them went in. I trust Collin Sexton shooting catch-and-shoot threes, 40% shooter. He got looks, Ziaire [Williams] got looks, we got good looks versus the zone. It’s hard. We were actually getting the ball where we want it to be and executing well against it.”

Sexton shot 41% from the 3-point range in 26 games with the Chicago Bulls last season and is a 39% career 3-point shooter through 2025-26.

The Lakers made 17 of their 43 3-point attempts. The Trail Blazers shot 59% from the field and made 18 of 36 from deep, and Redick pointed to the other end: “I think we have to be able to rely on our defense every night. If we score 129 points at home we should be able to get enough stops to win.”

The Lakers, 3-1 and fifth in the Western Conference, visit the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Wednesday night, the second night of a back-to-back.