The film tells the truth. The Lakers are not a good defensive team, evidenced by the sight of the NBA\u2019s top guards blowing past Lakers defenders into the paint during a 10-game defensive swoon that ranks among the league\u2019s worst. <\/p>\n
Yet when coach JJ Redick shows his team the tape and then backs it up with the numbers, there\u2019s still cautious optimism that the Lakers can improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody in that meeting room that thinks we\u2019re a good defensive team right now,\u201d Redick said, \u201cbut I also don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody in that meeting room who thinks we can\u2019t be a good defensive team. We\u2019ve got to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the 10 games since LeBron James returned to the lineup, the Lakers have scored 121.8 points per 100 possessions, a significant increase in their offensive rating of 115.4 during the first 14 games of the season. While their offensive rating ranks fifth in the league during the last 10 games, their 120.9 defensive rating ranks 27th. It\u2019s a dramatic increase from their previous 113.7-point defensive rating.<\/p>\n
The most glaring issues are the team\u2019s defense in transition and early in the opponent\u2019s offense, Redick said. The Lakers give up 1.19 points per possession in transition, fifth-worst in the league.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s game in Phoenix against the Suns, who scored 28 fast-break points against the Lakers on Dec. 1, will be a significant test as the Lakers (17-7) try to avoid their first losing streak this season.<\/p>\n
Led by Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves \u2014 who is out for at least a week because of a left calf strain, the team announced Friday \u2014 and the 40-year-old James, the Lakers are not destined to be a fast team on either side of the court. They were outmatched against San Antonio\u2019s dynamic backcourt led by the speedy De\u2019Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, who combined for 50 points Wednesday as the Spurs scored 27 fast-break points and knocked the Lakers out of NBA Cup contention.<\/p>\n
Losses like that exposed the Lakers\u2019 lack of speed on the perimeter, but the team also has shown flashes of excellence against the best guards. The Lakers held 76ers star Tyrese Maxey to five points on two-for-six shooting in the fourth quarter of the Lakers\u2019 four-point win at Philadelphia on Dec. 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s less of scheme stuff. A little more of urgency,\u201d guard Gabe Vincent said. \u201cA little more of doing all the little things. If you don\u2019t do them, like I said, there are some great players in this league that will expose you.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the team\u2019s top defensive options is on the bench. Forward Jarred Vanderbilt has played only three minutes in the last 10 games. He entered the game against Philadelphia only after Jake LaRavia took a shot to the face that loosened a tooth.<\/p>\n
Vanderbilt, an athletic forward, has been a consistent force on defense during his career but struggles to contribute on offense. While he impressed coaches with how hard he worked in the offseason to improve his shooting and ballhandling, Vanderbilt made only four of 14 three-point shots in the first 14 games. He averaged 5.6 rebounds per game before James returned to the lineup Nov. 18, pushing Vanderbilt to the bench.<\/p>\n
Before the Lakers\u2019 last game against the Suns, Redick said part of it was a numbers game with James\u2019 return and felt the team would settle on a nine-man rotation. Vanderbilt had tasks he \u201cneeded to be able to do consistently to play\u201d even before James returned, Redick said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Spurs guard De\u2019Aaron Fox, scoring against Lakers guard Luka Doncic, and teammates continually drove past their defenders during an NBA Cup game Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n
(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
But making changes at that time was difficult, the coach acknowledged. The Lakers were in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. But they\u2019re 2-3 in the last five games, which have laid their defensive struggles bare, and coaches are \u201clooking at everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this continues,\u201d Redick said Friday, \u201che\u2019ll definitely get his opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
After practice Friday, Vanderbilt stayed on the court shooting extra three-pointers with staff members.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Reaves will be reevaluated in approximately one week, the Lakers said after practice.<\/p>\n
The guard averaging 27.8 points, 6.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds has led the Lakers in total minutes played as the team weathered stretches without James and Doncic. Reaves responded with a career-best start. He is ninth in the NBA in scoring and could be on track to earn his first All-Star nod as he enters a critical contract decision this offseason.<\/p>\n
Reaves will miss at least Sunday\u2019s game at Phoenix, Thursday\u2019s game at Utah and a Dec. 20 game at the Clippers. After another game at Phoenix on Dec. 23, the Lakers begin a stretch of five consecutive home games, starting with a marquee Christmas Day matchup against the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n
Etc.<\/p>\n
The Lakers assigned guard Bronny James to the G League on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The film tells the truth. The Lakers are not a good defensive team, evidenced by the sight of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[135224,64,63,3181,41222,11810,1862,2873,2877,590,5136,321,122788,118505,85,190686,3018,81607,20526],"class_list":["post-344448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-40-year-old-james","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-coach","tag-dec","tag-defense","tag-game","tag-lakers","tag-league","tag-nba","tag-philadelphia","tag-point","tag-possession","tag-redick","tag-sports","tag-suns-game","tag-team","tag-transition","tag-vanderbilt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}