The Lakers‘ defensive struggles are no secret. Sure, they’re 18-7 on the year, but look at the company they’re keeping when it comes to the NBA’s defensive efficiency stats. They’re 20th with a rating of 116.5. Just behind them, at No. 21, are the Bucks at 117.0–the same Bucks that are 11-16 this season. Just ahead of them are the 6-20 Pacers, 19th in the NBA with a 116.1 defensive rating.
You get the picture–teams that play defense as poorly as the Lakers typically have bad records. The notion that defense wins championships is a bit outdated, but certainly, a team can’t compete for a championship if they’re the 20th-best defensive team in the league.
Coach JJ Redick is finding that for his Lakers, the problem with the defense starts at the top, with stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James. Doncic has never been much of a defender, and James was once a solid defensive player who has slipped now that he is in his 40s. But neither has been approaching defense with much moxie or enthusiasm, and Redick met with the pair last week to hash out that issue.
Luke Doncic on JJ Redick Meeting: ‘We Talked About a Lot’
Doncic spoke to reporters at Lakers practice on Wednesday and explained a bit about the meeting with his coach.
“Yeah, it was good. We talked about a lot, not just that,” Doncic said. “But he was right, you know. You got to get a little bit more, especially from your star players. So, that’s on us, that’s on me. We just got to give more, especially at the start the game. We got to start the game better.”
And again, it’s worth checking the numbers on that. The Lakers’ defensive efficiency is poor over 48 minutes, but it is especially bad in the first 12 minutes. L.A. is 24th in defensive efficiency in the first quarter of games, at 120.0. That largely lands on the starters–especially on the two most prominent starters, Doncic and James.
GettyLos Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick.
Lakers Hoping to Repeat Phoenix Effort
There was some hope that things can turn around after the Lakers’ last game against the Suns. The Lakers had the same struggles in the first quarter, but the bench’s defense was much better and the starters seemed to feed off that.
The Suns scored just 15 points in the third quarter and shot 37.5% in the second half, 27.8% from the 3-point line. L.A. needs to expand on that kind of effort.
“Phoenix, we did a pretty good job,” Doncic said. “The plan was focused on ourselves and defensive mentality, so I think we did a pretty good job with it. … We should be like that. Like JJ said, we told on ourselves. We should look at a clip, you know. Phoenix is one of the most physical teams in the NBA so we did a pretty good job there.”
The Lakers will play in Utah on Thursday, before coming back to L.A. to play the Clippers at their place and then going back to Phoenix on Tuesday. The Lakers host the Rockets on Christmas Day.
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