Back for more Conference Finals tonight. #LakeShow
⏰: 6 p.m. PT
📺: TNT
📻: 710 ESPN & 1330 Tu Ligahttps://t.co/fgwyiXq9FE— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) September 22, 2020
ABOUT AD’S BUZZER-BEATER…
DENVER GETS BACK, AND CLOSES UP THE PAINT
LAKERS OVERCOME TURNOVERS AND FREE THROW SHORTAGE
Good summary by the always trustworthy Mike Trudell. So Denver stopped our fast break points and attacks to the rim, took advantage of our turnovers, and unleashed Jokic in last 3 mintes. So what do the Lakers do to counter those things?
The key is we are 6 games from the championship and winning tonight pretty much ends the Conference Finals so no holding back from Frank Vogel. Time to go all in and end this series.
1. Lineups. Lakers really only have two players who can defend the Joker because McGee has been terrible. Playing him to keep Howard from possibly fouling out is like agreeing to shorten the game at a risk of losing points. Start Howard and bring in McGee if he gets into too much early foul trouble, Not the other way around. Dwight just has too play smarter.
2. Transition. We dominated the boards and had opportunities to run but failed too often to finish, especially McGee and Kuzma. And we turned the ball over numerous times in transition. The solution is to take care of the bal and finish better.
3. Pain Packing. Denver was keeping every defender within one step from getting into the paint. Lakers’ problem was poor spacing with too many players bunched in the same area rather than spaced all around the court. Also, if you have Rondo plus McGee or Howard on the floor, you need pure shooters in the other three slots. Lakers need better spacing and shooting when Nggets Nuggets pack the paint.
4. Jokic. He is the offensive engine for Denver so this is where Frank earns his money. Nikola has been hunting Lakers guards and then taking advantage of them. That means we need to fight through, hedge, or go under the screens. I’m less worried about Joker killing us from deep than posting our guards up after we switch.
The solution is keep Jokic from getting the ball and don’t let him switch after he does. That means AD dogging him instead of Dwight. Let Dwight be the rim protector where he will get fewer fouls than being Jokic’s primary defender. AD can fight through those screens or go under and still have the length to challenge his threes.