The Los Angeles Lakers’ first trip to the Los Angeles Clippers’ new arena, the Intuit Dome, did not go well. They lost to their rivals from Los Angeles, 116-102, on Sunday night. The loss prompted some interesting comments from LeBron James and coach JJ Redick.
“We don’t have a huge margin for error” Redick admitted during his post-match press conference. “There’s a daily emphasis on touching the paint, playing with a paint mentality, making the extra pass. We don’t have a guy on our team that’s necessarily always going to shoot two at the ball. We don’t do that There’s not a guy on our team that’s going to be able to get past his guy one-on-one, get to the paint and spread it out on the perimeter. That’s just not our team. So we have to do that through execution. do that, we’re really good.
Indeed, the Lakers are 27th in the league in drives per game (37.9) and 23rd in catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts (24.6), on which they shoot at 35.8%, which places them in 24th place. Overall, they are 27th in 3-point attempts (33.8) and 19th in percentage (35.3). They also don’t get on the floor and are in 23rd place in terms of pace (98.26).
Instead, they put the ball inside via post-ups, where they are seventh in the league at 7.1 per game, and by diving the big man to the rim on pick-and-balls. rolls. Their 8.1 “roll man” possessions per game are tied for third. And only the Philadelphia 76ers rely more on getting to the line than the Lakers, who have a free throw rate of .272.
Playing slow and relying so much on free throws and paint scores is how you end up with games like the one against the Clippers where the Lakers actually shot 50% from the field, but still only managed 102 points and lost by double digits.
“This is how our team is built” James said when asked about Redick’s remark. “We don’t have the right to make mistakes, or many mistakes.”
“We have no choice,” James continued. “I mean…that’s how our team is built. And we have to do it, we have to play close to perfect basketball.”
But for any questions about the Lakers’ offensive personnel and approach, their defense was the biggest problem.
They were carved up by the Clippers in Sunday’s loss and are now 24th in the league in defensive rating (115.7). That’s by far the worst mark among teams currently holding a top-six spot in either conference and the only teams worse than all of them play in Capture the (Cooper) Flagg.
James’ comments can certainly be interpreted as a call for the front office to take additional action. But after sending D’Angelo Russell and Maxwell Lewis to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, the Lakers lost some of their flexibility on that front. Additionally, given James’ age and the fact that they are not an inner-circle contender, giving up one of their future first-round picks may not be wise.
Lakers beat reporter Jovan Buha said on Saturday that he’s heard things are “leaning more toward a baby move” before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Barring a surprise blockbuster in the coming weeks, the Lakers roster will remain imperfect, and they will have to continue trying to play “near perfect basketball” – no easy task in a Western Conference very competitive. . Although they are currently sixth, they are only 1.5 games ahead of the 11th-place Golden State Warriors.
