The Lakers were missing LeBron James on Friday night with the star suffering from an injury.
James was forced off against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day due to a groin strain.
And his presence was clearly missed on Friday as the Lakers were defeated 118-107 by the Clippers.
And Walton explained why he felt the Lakers struggled without the star.
The young core of the team was bullied at parts by the Clippers veterans, as they missed the experienced members of the team.
“With our group, with what we have now, we have to understand how important it is that we continue to stick together and keep our composure,” Walton explained.
“The Clippers did a nice job of putting in a really tough, defensive-minded group out there, we give in a little bit as a team.
“Our body language gets off a little bit.
“What we have to understand is, as a group we’re going to win and we’re going to lose. We have to stay together no matter what.
“It’s not the loss, I felt like we kind of started to splinter a little bit while it was happening. That can’t happen.
“We can lose games but we’re going to lose them together. We win them, we win them together.
“No matter what’s happening on the court, we have to stay together and keep working.”
James is expected to remain out of action for another few games, and Walton suggested that if he had been in the team for the Sacramento Kings game on Thursday, they would have won.
“With him being hurt, this is the first close game we’ve been in where he’s not there,” he said.
“If LeBron James plays in that game, it probably finishes a little differently, but that’s what we have to get.
“That’s what our guys were doing last year, but when you get the closer in the game on your team, you rely on him to do that.”
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News