Lakers’ ‘low man’ comes into focus for improved defense

Lakers’ ‘low man’ comes into focus for improved defense – Daily News https://t.co/hpBDTYV5k2

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) December 21, 2024

When it comes to the Lakers’ defense and their improvement on that end of the court, multiple people within the organization point to a responsibility that can be in the hands of several players on any given possession.

“The low man and the low-man presence and the high-shift presence that we talked about all season, that, to me, is what’s probably improved the most,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said after the team’s practice on Wednesday. “Our low man is consistently in there.”

The low man – the defender closest to the rim on the weak side of the floor – is usually responsible for providing the first wave of help defense when the opposing team’s offense either penetrates the defense or appears to be about to.

The Lakers have been getting better performances from the players in this position more often, helping them to their best defensive stretch of the season so far.

Statistically, the Lakers’ three best defensive performances have come in their last three games: the 107-98 home win against Portland on Dec. 8; the 97-87 road loss to Minnesota on Dec. 13 and Sunday’s 116-110 home win against Memphis.

The Lakers’ defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) in those games, according to Cleaning The Glass:

• Portland: 100;

• Minnesota: 99 (season-best mark);

• Memphis: 100.9.

The Lakers didn’t record a single-game defensive rating below 105 this season, according to Cleaning The Glass, until the victory over the Trail Blazers.

“We’re just covering for each other,” All-Star big man Anthony Davis said. “We [weren’t] having a lot of that. A guy gets beat, it wasn’t a guy there to protect him. We’ve got some practice time to kind of take care of that. And it’s shown and translated onto the court.”

The Lakers’ defense will be tested when they travel to Sacramento to play the Kings at Golden 1 Center on Thursday night and again Saturday afternoon.

In addition to Davis not switching on to perimeter players as often defensively and playing in coverage more frequently, the Lakers’ improved presence from their low man has led to better rim protection.

The Lakers allowed opponents to shoot just 50% within six feet of the rim when a defender is nearby in their last three games, the league’s best defensive mark in that small-sample size, after allowing 66% shooting on these shots (ranked No. 24) over their first 24 games.

“That’s what we do in the practice, literally, [work on] our low man, help defense and all that,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “We have [the] potential to be a good defense team. Low man’s going to be really important, especially with me. I’ve been in a lot of low man side, so I’m more like watching film with the coaches, and then trying to make sure I’m in the right position.”