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Damian Lillard

Lakers’ Championship Team Defense Blitzes Lillard and Shuts Down Blazers

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The champion Los Angeles Lakers may have rediscovered their swarming championship team defense in the second half last night as they blitzed Damian Lillard and shut down the Portland Trail Blazers in a 102–93 win.

Besides ending a season longest 4-game losing streak, the win showed the Lakers were still capable of playing the caliber of defense that won their 17th championship despite missing their defensive anchor Anthony Davis. That was something NBA pundits had started to question as the Lakers had lost 5 of the 6 games without Anthony Davis while posting an 18th ranked defensive rating of 112.8 and watching their #1 defensive rating decline.

Buoyed by the return of point guard Dennis Schroder, the Lakers finally displayed the attacking and trapping defense that was the trademark of last season’s championship run in the bubble and had been MIA this season. After struggling to contain Lillard in the first half as he exploded for 24 points, the Lakers tightened their doubles and blitzes in a second half and held Dame to 11 points and the Trail Blazers as a team to just 36 points.

It was the kind of dominating second half defense the Lakers unleashed on high-powered scorers like James Harden, Nikola Jokic, Jimmy Butler, and the same Damian Lillard during their elite championship run in the bubble. Noteworthy, it was also the kind of defensive performance that had earned the Lakers’ the #1 defensive rating all season long but had been completely missing during their last 10 games which included 5 losses and 3 OT wins.

The Lakers defensive rating last night was a stellar 98.9 for the game and 78.3 for the second half. The performance lowered their leading defensive rating to 105.8 and extended their lead over second place Jazz to 1.5 points. Last night’s defensive performance also ended a 10-game streak where the Lakers defensive rating had declined to a 10th rated 109.4 and a 6-game stretch without Anthony Davis were it declined to an 18th rated 112.8.

While the Blazers were missing key players, last night’s performance was by far the Lakers’ best defensive game without AD and showed their ‘attack dog’ swarming, doubling, rotating team defense was not dependent on him. One of the keys to the Lakers’ great defense was LeBron James assuming Anthony Davis’ role and responsibility as the team’s defensive anchor with 10 rebounds, 5 deflections, 4 steals, 3 blocks, and 1 drawn charge.

It’s easy to forget what a major part of the Lakers’ defensive dominance in the playoffs was LeBron James’ elite individual defense, where he matched Anthony Davis’ 1.2 steals and his 0.9 blocks per game was team second best. Last night was a reminder 36-year old LeBron James can still dominate at both ends of the court when needed. James’ mantra has always been to do whatever the Lakers need to . Last night, it was dominant defense.

As a team, the Lakers grabbed 37 defensive rebounds, deflected 19 passes, made 9 steals, and blocked 7 shots with the aggressive swarming ‘attack dog’ defense that dominated as the Lakers won 16 of their 21 playoff games. They held the Blazers to 19 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a dominant 18 minute stretch covering the third quarter and first six minutes of the fourth when they allowed just 23 points

The Lakers’ defensive heroics were teamwide. Caruso had 6 deflections, 6 defensive rebounds, and 2 steals. Schroder had 5 deflections, 3 defensive rebounds, and 1 steal. Horton-Tucker had 5 defensive boards and 2 blocks. Kuzma had 6 defensive boards, Harrell had 4 defensive boards, 1 block, and 1 charge drawn, Morris had 1 deflection, 3 defensive boards, and 1 steal, KCP had 2 deflections and 1 steal. Gasol had 1 defensive board and 1 block.

Individual player defensive ratings were also stellar for the game. Top defensive ratings for the game were 78.3 by Montrezl Harrell, followed by 87.3 by LeBron James, 91.2 by Talen Horton-Tucker, 94.9 by Alex Caruso. Markieff Morris posted 97.8, Wes Matthew 100.0, Kyle Kuzma’s 104.4, and Dennis Schroder 104.9. The only Lakers with subpar ratings last night were Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 112.2 and Marc Gasol with 120.0.

The Lakers have three games before the All-Star break: Warriors on Sunday, Suns next Tuesday, and Kings next Wednesday. If they can play the same level of defense as last night, they’ll have a good chance to win all three.

Surprise Laker Defensive Strategies to Slow Down Portland’s Damian Lillard!

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It’s no secret the Portland Trail Blazers long-shot hopes to upset the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs that start tomorrow night in Orlando depend mainly on Damian Lillard going off offensively.

It thus follows that the best way for the favored Lakers to make sure the underdog Blazers cannot pull off an unlikely upset is to figure out how to slow Lillard down to keep him from going off and dominating the game. While there are obvious moves teams have deployed in the past to control Dame, such as double teaming him and forcing him to give up the ball, here are three surprise moves the Lakers could make to slow him down:

1. Wear Him Out on Defense.

While Lillard is an elite offensive talent, he’s nowhere as impactful on the defensive end. In fact, his 114.3 defensive rating for the 2019-20 season ranks 14th on the Blazers for players who played over 10 minutes per game. Focusing on his offense even more in the bubble, Dame’s defensive rating soared to 121.7. The result of his poor defensive performances left him with net ratings of just 1.4 for the regular season and 2.2 for the bubble.

The Lakers should deploy the strategy they used to defuse the Clippers’ Lou Williams and relentlessly hunt switches to force Damian Lillard to defend LeBron James on every possession to tire and wear him out defensively.

2. Have His Defender Leak Out.

This is another tactic designed to hurt Lillard’s offense by forcing him to focus on defense by having the Lakers’ defender who is guarding him leak out as soon as Dame shoots to try to cherry pick an easy fast break basket. This not only can break Lillard’s concentration on offense but also make him less eager to beat his man and penetrate because he knows his initial defender is going to be leaking out looking a long pass in transition.

This strategy creates pressure on Lillard not only to make his shot but also to get back quickly whether the shot ends up falling or not and plays right into the Lakers’ game plan of beating teams down the court for easy buckets.

3. Defend Him with Size and Length.

While Damian Lillard is a prodigious offensive talent, he is still only 6′ 2″ tall, which makes him a small guard by NBA standards, which means he can be bothered and forced to adjust his shot by taller and longer defenders. Fortunately, the Lakers have three players who have elite defensive ability, are over 6′ 8″ in height, and have over 7′ 0″ in length in Kyle Kuzma, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis to make it difficult for Dame to get his shot off.

The Lakers will probably use Kuzma early as part of a wave of different defenders who will try and slow Lillard down but, if the game is still close heading down the stretch, look for James or Davis to defend Dame.

Dame averaged 36.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 9.0 assists in 40.0 minutes while shooting 50.8% from the field and 39.4% from deep with one win and two losses in three games against the Los Angeles Lakers this season. The Lakers’ goal should be to hold Lillard under 30 points per game and McCollum under 20 points per game. If they do that, there’s a good chance the Lakers will sweep the Blazers in the first round or win in five games.

The Blazers will try to turn this series into a shootout as that is their only chance to pull off an upset. The Lakers know this and understand defense is their advantage and will focus on making sure they contain Lillard.