Lakers can’t fix defense

“The defense is probably our biggest difficulty at the moment. When analyzing his team’s loss against SpursJJ Redick said it all in one sentence. THE Lakers are struggling on this side of the pitch and nothing seems to be working to reverse the trend in recent weeks.

“We’re not good in certain areas: we don’t create turnovers, we were disastrous at the end of the first quarter and at the beginning of the second, so we’re struggling. If our opponent shoots well, we’re in big trouble.”, warns coach. And with San Antonio shooting 17/38 on 3-pointers (45%), the Californians eased up. “That’s a weakness we have to fix. The spirit is always good here, we know we can do it… But we have to be a group that defends with five players.” recaps Austin Reeves on the outside defense.

27th defense in the NBA in the last ten games

That said, JJ Redick is taking notice “few teams don’t have a weakness that we can press on and constantly, against us, press in the same place”. LeBron James and his teammates were outmatched by the Texans. They have six or seven players who can make the difference with the dribble, who are very fast., PLEASE NOTE the best scorer in history.

So what can we do to stop this bleeding? “We have to be connected, not do it individually, we have to communicate”replies LeBron James. Since their defensive benchmark matchup against the Bucks, November 15with only 95 points conceded, Los Angeles players skate to contain the opposition.

In their last 10 games, they have the 27th defensive efficiency in the league, with 120.9 points per 100 possessions. It’s too much and it hampers the performance of the team, whose offense at the same time is doing quite well.

“We are not at the desired level. We came back from the Eastern Conference, after long trips. We have to focus. We are a little lethargic, we feel it, the coaches too, the fans too”concludes Marcus Smart, the former best defender in the NBA just recruited to help the team in this area.