It feels like the Lakers are close to putting together a winning performance in at least one of their games against the Thunder in their second-round playoff series.
But their18-point losses in Game 1andGame 2 in Oklahoma Citysuggest they aren’t as close as it feels.
The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday, with the Lakers looking to avoid falling into the dreaded 0-3 hole — a series deficit no team in NBA history has overcome.
If the Lakers want to have a shot at winning the best-of-seven series, they need to make a few adjustments for Game 3:
The Lakers spent asignificant chunk of the regular season deploying a zone defense.
And yet, they haven’t played zone during the playoffs.
The Thunder faced the second-most zone defense in the league this season, scoring 1.005 points per possession (ranked 20th), compared with the 1.039 points per possession they score when playing against man-to-man defense (ranked second).
California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.
The Lakers played zone defense the third most of any team this season, allowing 0.955 points per possession (ranked sixth in the NBA).
The Lakers have stuck with putting two on the ball when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the ball handler.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
