Lakerholics

Redick’s surprise late-season gamble to transform the Lakers’ offense into a volume 3-point shooting juggernaut and their defense into a trapping and swarming small ball attack paid off big as L.A. won 50 games and #3 seed.

The dramatic changes allowed the Lakers to win 50 games, the #3 seed in the West, and what is generally considered to be a very favorable possible path to the NBA Finals, especially considering the West is so challenging. JJ’s timing was perfect. Luka transformed L.A.’s offense into a 3-point juggernaut while their LeBron-powered aggressive swarming, trapping small ball defense held 3 elite teams under 100 points to close the season.

Once the dust settled after their 8-game run, the Lakers had done the unthinkable and actually transformed themselves into a 3-point offensive juggernaut that was taking and making 5 more 3-point shots per game.
With a healthy, better conditioned Luka Doncic running the offense and a healthy, repurposed LeBron James choreographing their swarming small ball defense, the Lakers finished the regular season as a playoff nightmare.

Before their stretch run, the Lakers were making 0.6 fewer 3PM per game for a negative differential of -1.8 points per game. During the run, L.A. made 3.2 more 3PM per game for a positive differential of +9.6 points. Redick’s smart decision to go all-in on volume 3-point shooting and aggressive small ball defense was a recognition the only realistic way L.A. could win the NBA championship was to win the 3-point war with Boston.

Let’s look closer at the Lakers’ dramatic stretch run to lock up 50 wins and the #3 seed in the West and whether their juggernaut 3-point shooting and swarming rotating small ball defense will be sustainable in the playoffs.

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Lakers’ Offense Leads NBA in Made Threes Down Stretch

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The Lakers started their 8-game stretch run with a 44–29 record and #4 seed in the West but facing the league’s toughest closing schedule with critical pairs of games vs. the #1 OKC Thunder and #2 Houston Rockets.

The 2024–25 regular season had been a constant roller coaster for the Lakers as untimely injuries to James, Davis, and Doncic and trades for Finney-Smith and Doncic roiled their roster and disrupted their season.
Despite the changes and setbacks, Redick remained committed to fully modernizing the Lakers’ old school offense, embracing the 3-point era, and committing the team to taking and making a high volume of threes.

Over the Lakers’ next 8-games, L.A. went all-in on becoming the NBA’s hottest and most potent offensive juggernaut led by a dynamic playmaking and scoring Big Three of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves.
Before their stretch run, the Lakers offense was 14th (114.3), defense 14th (113.6), and net rating 14th (+0.7). During their stretch run, their offense was 1st in the NBA (124.6), defense 15th (114.4), and net rating 7th (+10.2).

During their 8-game stretch run, the Lakers raised their 3PM from 12.9 to 17.5 per game, their 3PA from 35.9 to 41.3 per game, and their 3P% from 36.0% to 41.4%, creating a positive +9.6 points 3-point shooting differential.
While a small sample size, the eye test confirmed advanced stats. Anybody watching could see Luka was creating waves of wide-open 3-point shots for the Lakers. L.A.’s +10.2 net rating was due to their 3-point differential.

The Lakers have the playmakers and dead-eye shooters to prove their sizzling 3-point shooting was not just a hot streak but a replicable outcome of the elite pacing and spacing they can sustain throughout the playoffs.

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Lakers’ Swarming Small Ball Defense Shuts Down Stars

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While it was the Lakers’ juggernaut 3-point shooting that propelled them to a 50-win season and #3 seed in the West, the Lakers also had opportunities to showcase their swarming small ball defense during their stretch run.

The first opponent the Lakers held under 100 points down the stretch was the #2 seed Houston Rockets, whom the Lakers beat 104–98, holding them defensively to 41.6% from the field and 31.3% from deep in a close game.
The Lakers held Rockets’ guards Jalen Green and Fred Van Fleet to single digits and Houston big men Alperen Sengun and Dillon Brooks to 16 and 14 points. The Lakers aggressive small ball team defense shut Rockets down.

The Lakers’ best defensive effort was their 126–99 stomping of the #1 seed Thunder in OKC, where the Lakers aggressive trapping small ball defense held the Thunder to just 43.3% from the field and just 32.4% from deep.
The Thunder’s loss was biggest of the season. The Lakers shut down OKC’s interior and perimeter offense and dominated them offensively, winning the 3-point war by 30 points and raising serious questions about OKC.

The third opponent the Lakers held below 100 points down the stretch was the Mavericks in Luka Doncic’s first return to Dallas after the big trade, where the Lakers proceeded to throttle AD and the Mavericks 112–97.
The Lakers not only had Luka’s back as he dominated the game, scoring 31 in the first half and 45 for the full game. They also shut down the Mavs’ offense and held Anthony Davis to just 13 points on 5 of 13 shooting.

Like with their offense, the Lakers have finally have their full defense available, including the 4 big wing defenders in Vanderbilt, Hachimura, Finney-Smith, and James, who are the fire that makes their defense run.

The Sunday and Tuesday mini-series in OKC between the superstar-driven Lakers and the deep young juggernaut Thunder promises to be a live sneak preview of a possible Western Conference Finals between the two teams.

With just five games left in the regular season, the Lakers face a daunting trial by fire that could catapult them up to #2 seed in the West if they win out or see them plummet into the Play-In if the lose 4 or 5 of the games. That 3 of their remaining 5 games include 2 road games against the #1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder and a home game against the #2 seed Houston Rockets only make the Lakers’ remaining games even more challenging.

Sunday afternoon’s first game of the mini-series should give us a first indication how the LeBron James and Luka Doncic led Lakers matchup with the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen William driven Thunder.
Statistically, the Thunder are a different tier of NBA teams than the Lakers. While the L.A. has had the #13 ranked offense and defense since trading for Luka Doncic on February 1, OKC had the #1 offense and defense.

Fortunately for L.A., the game is not played on paper and the Lakers and LeBron James have the firsthand experience and confidence you only get from actually winning championships, which the Thunder still do not.
The mini-series in OKC should be the two biggest games of the year for both teams and a fascinating sneak preview of what we might see if the Lakers and Thunder end up meeting in the Western Conference Finals.

So let’s review the Lakers-Thunder matchup, what each team’s advantages and disadvantages are, what each team must do to sweep the mini-series, and what the impact will be should the two teams meet in the playoffs

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WHY LAKERS SHOULD SWEEP TWO-GAME MINI-SERIES

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The 2 road games tomorrow and Tuesday night against the Thunder have unfortunately become ‘must win’ games for the Lakers, who are looking to hold the #3 seed in the West despite a tough 5-game closing schedule.

While the Lakers desperately need to win their last 5 games to hold the #3 seed, the 54-win Thunder no longer have a shot at 60 wins or any pressing motivation to beat the Lakers other than pride and getting a mental edge.
Despite the Lakers desperately needing to win and the Thunder not, OKC has been so dominant in the West throughout this season that they have been installed as close to 10-point favorites to win Saturday’s first game.

In a perfect world, the Lakers would prefer to keep their playoff plans close to the vest instead of having to go all-in late in the regular season to win two critical games against the Thunder with every weapon in their arsenal.
Instead, the Lakers need to come with a greater urgency than any other time this season. They need their Big Three of James, Doncic, and Reaves to have a juggernaut night and their key role players to have career games.

While the Thunder have maybe the deepest and most talented roster in the league, they have not actually experienced how to win championships the way that LeBron James has. They may very well still be a year away.
A healthy LeBron James and Luka Doncic will be an excellent challenge for the young, inexperienced Thunder to use as pre-playoff measuring stick. It will be interesting to see if JJ Redick can outcoach OKC’s Mark Daigneault.

In the end, the Lakers will count on the iconic basketball skills, IQ’s, experience, and leadership of their generational superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic to overcome the young, playoff inexperienced Thunder.

If the Lakers want to legitimately compete for the NBA championship this season, rookie head coach JJ Redick needs to quickly figure out how to fix the Lakers’ broken offense and defense in time to excel in the playoffs.

Offensively, the Lakers were expected to be an immediate juggernaut with a starting Big Three of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves. The challenge for the Lakers was supposed to be defensively, not offensively. During the two months from January 6 to March 6, half of which included Anthony Davis and half Luka Doncic, the Lakers posted a solid 116.4 OffRtg (#11), a league-best 109.3 DefRtg (#1), and a top-five +7.1 NetRtg (#5).

Then LeBron was injured against the Celtics on March 8th and the Lakers proceeded to lose 8 of their next 12 games before rebounding against the Grizzlies last night, going from 40–21 and 2nd in West to 45–29 and 4th.
During the last 13 games, which included 8 games LeBron James missed, 4 where he struggled, and the last one where he appeared to be himself, the Lakers posted 114.5 OffRtg (#16), 119.6 DefRtg (#21), and -5.1 NetRtg (#22).

The Lakers’ struggles at both ends during the 12 games where James was either out or struggling to come back raised questions whether the team’s two-month reign as the league’s #11 offense and #1 defense was a mirage.
Critics claimed the energy and effort the Lakers were making on defense was not sustainable and noted that, even with LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves, the Lakers were still just a middle-of-the-pack offense.

The big challenge facing Lakers’ rookie head coach JJ Redick right now is how to fix the team’s broken offense and defense. Here are the five major changes Redick must make for Lakers to steal the NBA championship.

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1. Get LeBron James 100% Healthy For Playoffs

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The most important change the Lakers will need to win in the playoffs is a healthy LeBron James. While players are never 100% after the grind of the regular season, L.A.’s offense and defense needs a healthy LeBron James

While the Lakers obviously struggled during the 8 games James missed and the 4 games where he was still trying to get into game condition, his play last night against the Grizzlies was hopefully a sign the King is almost back.
While LeBron’s points dropped, he’s kept his boards and assists during this stretch. Problem was shooting (3 of 24 from deep for 12.5%) and advanced stats, where he went from solid 113.4/107.6/+5.8 to poor 112.7/123.8/-11.1.

Redick had found the perfect formula for how to transform a Lakers’ starting lineup with Doncic, James, and Reaves into the NBA’s #11 offense and #1 defense by having LeBron replace AD as team defensive captain.
While the team’s schedule was brutal and they missed other players like Rui Hachimura, it was the injury to LeBron, who was making everything work, that derailed a dangerous Lakers’ juggernaut that nobody wanted to face.

That’s why the Lakers need to continue to prioritize playoff health over playoff seeding. They still have the second toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, with two more pairs of roster-breaking back-to-back games.
The Lakers need to ignore whatever seeding drama is going on in the Wild West and commit to making sure that LeBron James is as close to 100% as possible for the playoffs, even if it means resting him down the stretch.

While the Los Angeles Lakers do need to win enough games to stay out of the Play-In Tourney, LeBron James’ playoff health is far more important than the Western Conference playoff seed Los Angeles ends up winning.

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2. Optimize Minutes Luka & LeBron Play Together

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JJ Redick’s second most important change will be to optimize the minutes on the court together of two of the smartest and greatest iconic point guards in the history of the NBA in LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

In 26-year old Luka Doncic and 40-year old LeBron James, JJ has two of the smartest and greatest point guards to ever play the game of basketball and needs to decide when to play them together and when to stagger them.
That Doncic is literally a younger clone of the 40-year old James and both are at their best when ball dominant seems to call for staggering them to avoid redundancy and make sure one superstar is on court all the time.

But two factors are pushing JJ to play James and Doncic together. The first is the offense/defense balance JJ wants in every lineup. While they’re clones offensively, LeBron can be a legitimate superstar defensively.
The second factor is the one tantalizing play between LeBron James and Luka Doncic that Lakers’ coach JJ Redick has deliberately not shown yet: the potentially unstoppable Luke Doncic and LeBron James pick-and-roll.

While the sample size is statistically small, superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic have played a total of 367 minutes in 15 regular season games during which they posted a 111.6 OffRtg, 114.1 DefRtg, and -2.5 NetRtg.
Redick clearly needs to figure out how to get the LeBron and Luka lineups to be the juggernauts they should. If that means not having one of them on the court all the time, the Lakers are lucky they can rely on Austin Reaves.

The Lakers need to optimize the minutes their best two players LeBron James and Luka Doncic play together even if it means relying on Austin Reaves to carry the load alone when the two superstars are on the bench.

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3. Limit Minutes Lakers’ Big Three Play Together

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Figuring out how to best deploy and take advantage of the Lakers’ Big Three of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves is JJ Redick’s next most important move to get the Lakers playing like NBA champions.

Simply stated, there’s a strong argument that teams with three stars would be smart to prioritize having two of their three stars on the court together for 48 minutes of every game rather than playing all three stars together.
Playing three ball-dominant offense-first players on court together when there is only one basketball is not a formula for playing efficient offense or for building a balanced lineups that can defend as well as score the ball.

The big question after the Lakers’ blockbuster trade for Luka Doncic was whether a starting lineup with three elite offense-first players in Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves could win the championship.
JJ Redick’s major change to improve the Lakers’ starting lineup’s defense was to turn over running the offense to Luka Doncic so LeBron James would be free to replace Anthony Davis as the team’s defensive captain.

While the sample size is small, the Lakers’ Big Three of James, Doncic, and Reaves have so far played a total of 247 minutes in 13 regular season games during which they posted a 113.4 OffRtg, 119.4 DefRtg, and -6.1 NetRtg.
The Lakers would get better balance productivity by limiting minutes by the Big Three together and instead making sure LeBron and Luka, LeBron and Austin, or Luka and Austin are on court all 48 minutes of every game.

Redick would be smart to limit minutes on court together by the Lakers’ Big Three of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves to the start of each half and prioritize having two of three stars on the court at all times.

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4. Convert Jemison & Koloko As Backup Center

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Size matters and the Lakers’ lack of a trusted backup center for Jaxson Hayes is one of their greatest vulnerabilities. The Lakers need to convert Trey Jemison’s and Christian Koloko’s two-way to standard contracts.

The lack of a proven backup center has been a major problem for the Lakers for several seasons. The decision to rescind the trade for Mark Williams left the Lakers seriously undermanned at the center position.
While Jaxson Hayes has stepped up to become one of the team’s best role players, the team has struggled whenever he has to go the bench to rest and Redick has been hesitant to utilize two-way centers Jemison and Koloko.

The result has been a mixed bag of weird small ball lineups with James, Vanderbilt, or Finney-Smith at the five that have struggled to win games or fans’ hearts at opposing teams dominate them in the post and off the glass.
The Laker would be smart to waive center Alex Len and shooting guard Shake Milton and sign two-way centers Trey Jemison and Christian Koloko to standard NBA contracts so they would become eligible for the playoffs.

Jemison and Koloko provide complete different but needed center skillsets. Trey Jemison is more of a traditional big body bruiser center who’s not afraid to bang with anybody or defend any teammate that’s being abused.
Christian Koloko, on the other hand, is more of a lob dunk threat like Jaxson Hayes. What he does bring to the table that Jemison does not is the ability to be a great lob dunk threat, especially playing with Luka Doncic.

The Lakers converted two-way guard Jordan Goodwin to a standard NBA contract so he’ll be eligible for the 2025 playoffs. They should do the same for Trey Jemison and Christian Koloko to add desperately needed size.

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5. Run More Plays & Less Freelancing On Offense

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One of the major challenges for NBA coaches with superstars like LeBron James and Luka Doncic on their roster is convincing the team to run more efficient set plays rather than just allowing the superstars to freelance.

NBA analysts following the Lakers believe Los Angeles scores more points per possession running set plays than allowing the team’s superstars to freelance, which often leads to isolation play and slower ball movement.
There’s no question there have been times when the Lakers offense seems to go into a funk where they just cannot generate a high percentage shot. Those are the times when it makes sense to have the team run a set play.

One of the benefits of Luka Doncic taking over control of the ball and the Lakers’ offense is we’re likely to see the team run more pick-and-roll plays and specific plays designed to get easy lob dunks and open 3-point shots.
With James focusing on playing more off the ball on offense and taking on the responsibility of replacing Anthony Davis as the Lakers’ defensive captain, look for Redick to increase the percentage of set plays to be run.

The NBA is a matchup league and teams not only need diverse players with the skill sets to match up against different opponents but also diverse play calls that can work against different types of defenses they will face.
Balancing running set plays specifically designed to work against specific’s opponents’ weaknesses with trusting the world’s greatest athletes to make the right read and right call in on-court chaos is often very difficult to do.

While the Laker have two of the best playmaking point guards in the history of the NBA in LeBron James and Luka Doncic, they’d be smart to run set plays involving all five players than letting their stars freelance.

There’s nothing wrong with the Lakers’ top rated defense that getting back a healthy, conditioned, and defensively engaged LeBron James cannot fix. LeBron James is why the Lakers ‘D’ did not miss a beat after trading AD.

The Lakers held the #1 NBA defensive rating for two straight months until LeBron was injured in a loss to Boston in early March. Since then, L.A. has lost 7 of their last 10 games and slipped from #2 to #4 seed in the West. During that 10-game slide, which included 8 games LeBron missed and 2 where he struggled, the Lakers once top rated defense slipped from #1 in the league to #23 as the team desperately missed its Director of Defense.

After a pair of lackluster games, especially defensively, the Lakers need the LeBron James who, after passing the offensive baton to Luka Doncic, took over as the team’s defensive leader and best defender from Anthony Davis.
During that two month reign as the NBA #1 defense, it was LeBron James’ leadership orchestrating the Lakers’ team defense, calling out plays and switches, and taking on major roles defending opponents’ best players.

Teams have adjusted their spacing to make it harder for the Lakers to deploy their trap, rotate, and swarm defense. There will still be times when poor shooting teams like the Magic will beat the odds and shoot lights out.
The West is tough and LeBron and the Lakers need to get their defensive mojo back. They can’t allow 3 losses to turn into a 6-game losing streak.

So let’s take a closer look at what the Lakers need from LeBron James as their Director of Defense to beat the red-hot Pacers who have won 5 straight and the sizzling Bulls who’ve won 3 straight in a Wed/Thu B2B.

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Better Point-of-Attack Team Defense

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In JJ Redick’s new defense, LeBron James’ role is similar to that of a middle linebacker or free safety in football. He’s the Lakers’ Director of Defense, the play caller who anticipates, directs, and choreographs the defense.

Preventing ball handlers from penetrating the defense and getting into the paint is the first principle of any successful defensive strategy. In a team point-of-attack defense, primary and help defenders need to work as one.
The primary defender needs to stay in front of the man he is guarding and the help defenders on each side need to shade towards the ball handler to build a potential wall to keep the ball hander from getting by his defender.

One of the strengths the Lakers defense has missed during the last 10 games has been LeBron James ability to be a primary shut down defender, especially on mid-range jump shooting wings like Leonard or Booker.
The Lakers also missed LeBron’s ability as a helper to anticipate what’s going to happen and jump into the passing lanes to make a steal to ignite a fast break or draw a charge or make a game-saving chase down block.

The Lakers clearly need a fully engaged LeBron James if they’re going to get their defense back to playing like a #1 defense in the league. Hopefully, the disappointment of the last 2 games will increase the Lakers’ urgency.
The Lakers need everybody not only to be 100% healthy but also 100% engaged. Teams have obviously adjusted and are spacing the floor to make it harder for the Lakers to rotate in time to prevent wide open 3-point shots.

It would be great if LeBron could take his time to get back into full game condition but losing the last 3 games and 7 of the last 10 has unfortunately put the Lakers’ strategy of valuing playoff health over seeding to a real test.

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Better Guard And Wing Rotations

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The Lakers’ defensive strategy of doubling, rotating, and swarming when teams try to switch hunt their weaker defenders requires the five defensive players to act as one unit with everybody working together like on a string.

Playing an aggressive proactive type of defense like the Lakers are doing requires elite communication and coordination between all five defenders, which is something often takes seasons to teach, develop, and establish.
To work best, it needs the same thing any good offense or defense needs: players who believe in the system, have the smarts and anticipation to run the the system, and talent and athleticism to properly execute the plays.

As the Director of Defense, LeBron has been able to be the choreographer of the Lakers’ trapping, rotating, and swarming half-court defense. You can see him calling out the play and directing players to start their rotations.
Playing this kind of a defensive system, JJ has been able not only to give high basketball IQ players like Reaves and Doncic a defensive system that takes advantage of their smarts but also protects them from being hunted.

The Lakers trapping, rotating, and swarming team defense is designed first to stop the ball handler from shooting a three or getting into the lane. While that is happening, the team’s other defenders must start to rotate.
Ideally, they know ahead when the team is going to trap or double so they can anticipate where the next pass is going to go and hopefully be there to deflect or intercept it to ignite an easy fast break or transition bucket.

Finally, while LeBron James will never be the shot blocker or rim protector that Anthony Davis was, he’s already shown that he can take the torch from AD and become the Lakers’ defensive anchor and Director of Defense.

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Better Shot Blocking & Rim Protection

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While Jaxson Hayes has been outstanding as the Lakers’ starting center, coach JJ Redick has been hesitant to commit to either Christian Koloko or Trey Jemison as the backup center, despite being bulled at small ball.

Unfortunately, the small ball lineups JJ Redick has opted to play have not enjoyed much success against teams with a big physical low post center, especially when his best small ball five in LeBron James is not available.
The Lakers would be smart to convert young two-way center Christian Koloko to a standard contract so the team could have a legitimate 7-footer to backup Jaxson Hayes whenever he had to go to the bench to rest.

Until LeBron was injured, the Lakers were 16th in the league with 4.0 blocks per game and allowing just . Over the last 10 games, the Lakers shot blocking dropped to 30th in the league with just 2.9 blocks per game.
Same with opponent points-in-the-paint. When their defense was #1, the were 2nd in opponent points-on-the-paint. Last 10 games, they fell to 17th. Size and length matters in the NBA. Lakers need Koloko to backup Hayes.

The Lakers would be smart to backup Jaxson Hayes at center with Christian Koloko to give Luka and LeBron a quality lob target and also with LeBron James as a small ball five surrounded by four dead-eye 3-point shooters.
When the Lakers need a bruiser with a big body at center, LeBron James will still be JJ Redick’s preferred option to play small ball five if they opt to play a small ball lineup. LeBron James is still lethal as a point center.

The Lakers need to shore up their shot blocking and rim protection when their staring center goes to the bench by either backing up Jaxson Hayes with Christian Koloko or with LeBron James playing as small ball five.

The Lakers’ chances of winning their 18th NBA championship this season will likely depend on whether guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves can develop into a championship backcourt both offensively and defensively.

Early signs are promising as coach Redick has implemented schemes that take better advantage of Luka’s and Austin’s high basketball IQ and the two players have responded with improved defensive effort and performance. Redick’s new defensive scheme is designed to trap, rotate, and swarm any ball handler who tries to switch hunt a vulnerable defender like Austin Reaves or Luka Doncic. Lakers will no longer leave defenders on an island.

To make the new trap, rotate, and swarm anti-switch hunting defense work, the Lakers have also had to change how their centers defend pick-and-rolls. Lakers centers are no longer playing traditional drop coverage defense.
Instead, JJ wants his centers to be proactive rather than reactive, which means hedging, trapping, or blitzing the ball handler instead of switching and then trusting their swarming defensive rotations to create turnovers.

Redick wants his defense to be both the Lakers’ identity as a team and the engine that drives their offense. He wants his guards and wings trapping, rotating, and swarming and his centers attacking and intimidating.
The evolution of the Lakers’ defense under Redick has been amazing. After playing around with switch-everything and double-big schemes, JJ has now committed to an attacking trapping, rotating, and swarming team defense.

So can Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves become a championship defensive backcourt? Let’s see what analytics says about the Lakers’ new defense and see whether their ‘playoff health over playoff seeding’ strategy is working.

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What Does Analytics Say About Lakers’ New Defense?

The Los Angeles Lakers’ sudden development into one of the best defensive teams in the league despite having traded DPOY candidate Anthony Davis for dynamo offensive superstar Luka Doncic has the NBA entire befuddled.

Rookie head coach JJ Redick deserves all the credit in the world for the dramatic emergence of Lakers’ defense as one of if not the best defense in the league as does LeBron James, who’s the L.A.’s new Director of Defense.
How ironic that Redick’s first major coaching breakthrough was on defense and not offense? Adding Finney-Smith, Goodwin, Vincent, and Vanderbilt certainly helped but it’s JJ’s genius moves that transformed L.A.’s defense.

From February 1st, when they traded for Luka Doncic, through March 8th, which is when LeBron James was injured, the Lakers posted an elite team defensive rating of 107.7, the #1 defensive rating in the entire league.
During this period, the Lakers successfully shut down elite scorers like Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid, Karl-Anthony Towns, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant.

While the team had an elite 107.7 team defensive rating after trading for Luka and before LeBron getting injured, Luka Doncic posted an elite 106.3 (#4) while Austin Reaves posted a respectable 108.8 (#8) defensive rating.
While neither Luka or Austin are elite 1-on-1 defensive players, both are extremely intelligent and have great on-court anticipation. Redick’s new defensive scheme protects them and they’ve responded with great effort.

While their defense has slipped to 5th since LeBron was injured, the Lakers will finally be 100% healthy when they play the Bulls on Saturday night. Finally healthy, Lakers are now looking to lock up the #2 seed in the West.

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How Is ‘Playoff Health Over Seeding’ Strategy Working?

The Lakers gamble to prioritize playoff health over playoff seeding appears to have paid off. After finally finishing a grueling 3 back-to-backs in a row and 6 games in 8 days stretch, the Lakers are finally close to 100% healthy.

The #4 Los Angeles Lakers are essentially tied with the #3 Denver Nuggets with 26 losses, 1 loss behind the #2 Houston Rockets, 1 loss ahead of the #5 Memphis Grizzlies, and 3 losses ahead of the #6 Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers already hold tie breakers over the Nuggets, Grizzlies, Warriors, Clippers, Wolves, Kings, and Suns. They have 2 games left against the Houston Rockets and need to win both of those games to win tie breaker.

While the Lakers are entering their 13-game stretch run healthier than they’ve been all season with both Luka and LeBron rested and ready to go, the Nuggets’ Jokic and Murray are both still struggling with injuries.
The Lakers remaining schedule has tough games against Grizzlies, Rockets (2), Warriors, Pacers, and Thunder (2). The Nuggets remaining schedule includes Rockets (2) , Bucks, Pacers, Timberwolves, Warriors, and Grizzlies.

Heading into the regular season stretch run, expect the Los Angeles Lakers to continue to play their normal starting lineup of Luka Doncic at 1, Austin Reaves at 2 , Rui Hachimura at 3, LeBron James at 4, and Jaxson Hayes at 5. Healthy, the Lakers will likely expand their 9-man rotation to a 10-man rotation with Gabe Vincent backing the 1, Jordan Goodwin the 1, Dalton Knecht the 3, Dorian Finney-Smith the 4, and Jarred Vanderbilt the 5.

Ideally, a 100% healthy #4 Los Angeles Lakers should be able to win enough games down the stretch to overtake both the #2 Houston Rockets and #3 Denver Nuggets and lock up the #2 seed in the Western Conference.