After an abysmal start to the NBA season defensively, theLakers turned a corneron that end of the floor over the last month, and they’re confident the reasoning behind the turnaround can help lead to further success.
With respect to their roster construction, theLakers’ defensewasn’t expected to be a top-tier unit entering the season. But they started off even worse than anticipated.
The Lakers’ defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 117.9 through their first 40 games ranked 26th — a bad sign for their chances of contending for an NBA title.
They rebounded the ball well defensively, didn’t foul a lot and forced turnovers at a decent rate in the first half of the season.
But they were one of the league’s worst teams at protecting the rim and limited 3-pointers. And in addition to their troublesome transition defense, they were giving up points in some of the worst ways.
Thanks to their zone defense, the Lakers have made improvements, helping them have an above-average defense (112.7 defensive rating, which ranks 13th) in their 14 games leading into the All-Star break.
And for a Lakers team that’s expected to be led by its offense, above average should be more than good enough.
“It just gives us a different look,” Austin Reaves said Thursday of the team’s zone defense. “And an opportunity to kind of mix it up and fly around and get our defense started that way.”
During a pregame segment ahead of the Lakers’ home win over the Mavericks on Feb. 12, the “NBA on Prime” studio show highlighted the Lakers’ uptick in usage of zone defense.
The Lakers deployed a zone defense on a league-leading 17.6% of possessions in the 13 games leading into the matchup against the Mavericks — significantly higher than the league-most 10% of possessions the Bucks used zone defense this season through Feb. 12.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
