At the All-Star break, the Los Angeles Lakers are 33-21 and have the 5th seed in the Western Conference. That is a solid spot, considering the injuries they went through. Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James have only played ten games together. If the Lakers want to make a run, they need to play a lot better heading into the playoffs.
Table of Contents
Health of the Big 3
With the big three playing only 10 games together, they will need time to gel and get accustomed to playing together. It will take some time, so Doncic, Reaves, and James must be on the court together. The Lakers can use a lot of pick-and-rolls with Doncic and have James as a screener. Same with Reaves: in the playoffs, half-court scoring wins. Luka gives you that. Reaves punishes rotations. LeBron closes.
Defense
The Lakers’ defense has not been good this year; they are currently ranked 23rd in defensive rating and 18th in points allowed. The Lakers will need to play better on defense. The problem is that Doncic is not known for defense, and at James’ age, defense has slipped.
But both players can step up and give effort; it could go a long way toward helping them compete on defense. For the Lakers to improve on defense, it will take a team effort. Players like Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, and Jarred Vanderbilt will need to step up and play key minutes. Also, shooters Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard are having good seasons shooting the ball, but they must be better on defense.
Overall
One of the big problems the Lakers have they best defenders, Smart, LaRavia, and Vanderbilt, are not great shooters, which could lead to floor spacing problems. They will be left open, and they will need to knock down shots if the Lakers want to make a run.
With the Big Three getting a lot of attention, players will be open and will need to knock down shots. With Doncic, Reeves, and James, the Lakers have a solid big three that can compete for the championship, but it will be up to the others if they want to make a finals run.
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