Lakers vs. Suns Los Angeles needs to emphasize spacing in lineup decisions after ugly Game 1 loss to Phoenix
The Lakers aren't making life easy enough for their stars on offense
One clip, in particular, went viral after the Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 1 of their second-round series against the Houston Rockets last season. The play came in the fourth quarter, with the Lakers trailing by 12. LeBron wanted to move up to James Baskett, which was theoretically an easy task given Houston's small ball lineup. the only problem? All five rockets were waiting for him at the rim.
They had good reason for this. Dwight Howard was playing center for the Lakers and there was no threat on the perimeter. The Rockets were not interested in defending either Rajon Rondo or Markieff Morris. Both were inconsistent shooters, while James Drive is one of the most valuable plays in basketball. He wisely devoted his resources to stop it, and a disheartened James was caught mumbling on camera that "there is no difference."
Lebron James says "There's no spacing" pic.twitter.com/qruxbz3IGf
— Main Team (@MainTeamSports) September 5, 2020
The Lakers recovered to win the series in five matches. No one factor won them over, and many got out of their control. Those inconsistent shooters warmed up. Russell Westbrook was injured. But Frank Vogel also took matters into his own hands, leaving a large lineup that deprived James of the vacancy he needed. The Lakers moved Anthony Davis to the center for the rest of that series and did not look back.
But if you're wondering if the right lesson has been learned, let's look at the Lakers' difference in Game 1 of Sunday's series against the Phoenix Suns.
Not ideal, isn't it? The Lakers devoted 34 minutes of playing time to non-shooting centers in Andre Drummond and Montrezal Harrell, and this was largely seen as a result of their drive. Davis was hardly innocent even when he moved to the center. But the Lakers hardly helped matters with their lineup decisions, and they extend beyond the centers as well.
The Lakers spent three possessions with the backcourt of Dennis Schroder and Talen Horton-Tucker. The pair shot 31.5 percent combined on 3-pointers this season, and in 810 possessions, which the two played together during the regular season, the Lakers offense in terms of offensive efficiency in terms of glass cleaning per Was ranked in the 25th percentile. Unexpectedly, the Lakers did not score a single point during that brief stretch. Schroder and Harrell played a three-and-a-half minute game together in the first quarter, resulting in a total of four points. The Lakers don't just have big men who are not shooters. They have guards who don't either, and the most serious offenses come when the Lakers play the two of them together.
Before Anthony Davis was hurt in the season, the Lakers started him and James along with Schroder, Kentavius Caldwell-Pope and Marc Gasol. The unit was dominant on both ends of the floor, outscoring opponents by 13.9 points per 100 possessions exactly the way you would expect. There was almost perfect balance in the lineup. Schroder is a poor shooter, but LeBron needed to take a breather from his complementary ball tackle, and with two specialist passers like James and Gasol, Schroder needed to take the momentum away from the ball, even if he didn't shoot. . Gasol and Caldwell-Pope granted the vacancy. Davis did not have to bang with inside centers, but he was also not placed in a spot-up role. He could act as a center when needed, without taking any center beat.
Swap for Gasol in Drummond and that cohesion disappears. The Drummond version of the starting lineup shot just 26.4 percent on 3-pointers, which is a small 4-minute regular-season sample size. The Lakers shot just 26 of 7 from behind the arc in Game 1, and without that hiatus, Davis and James look mortal offensively. Their 31 combined points were related, but largely because of where those points were not coming from. The two Lakers superstars attempted just six shots in a restricted zone in Game 1. In the 2020 post season, he averaged 13.6.
LeBron is an underrated shooter. Davis was one last postson when he made nearly 50 percent of his mid-range attempts and more than 38 percent of his 3-pointers, but that's not ideal. For example, in this regular season, he dropped to 34.8 percent in mid-range and 26 percent on 3-pointers. Neither of the two are special because they can shoot. The fact that both can shoot only enhances everything else that they do well. Any lineup that turns those two into a jump-shooter naturally breaks down. The numbers support that theory. The Lakers outscored opponents by 14.9 points per 100 possessions this season with Davis at center, but only 6.4 points per 100 possessions in Power Forward, per Cleaning the Glass. The more shooting you do around them, the better.
This is especially important now when neither of them are playing at 100 percent. If the Lakers want any of them to attack the basket effectively, they need to make sure they have the space to do so. His distinct athleticism may not make up for the closed paint when he is recovering from injuries, and this is the key difference between last season's run and this.
The 2020 Lakers had a big margin for error. The four teams he defeated in the postseason were dealing with at least one meaningful injury or absence. Even though they were not, with Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry at home and kawhi Leonard knocked off in the second round, the Lakers had two of the best players in the bubble. They were both playing close to full health, and it covered a lot of their flaws. Any pending issues were resolved by outside shooting demonstrations. Rondo is a career 32.3 percent 3-point shooter and reached 40 percent in the playoffs. Morris jumped from 34 percent for his career to 42 percent in the postseason. Throw in Davis 'scorching shooting streak, and the Lakers' spacing issues resolve themselves.
But whatever happened right last time is not going to work this season. The Lakers themselves are not healthy and cannot rely on their superstars to play against every team. His role players may not have the best shooting stretch of his career. The Red Sea may not be any different to him, as he did a year ago. If the Sun has anything to say about it, it will not happen.
Phoenix has won 51 matches this season. They are the No. 2 seed, the Lakers have played the most in the post season during the James-Davis era, and Chris Paul is not exactly known for moving away from making sub-decisions to opponents. The Lakers could afford to pull off the opening games of last season because their upside was so much higher than everyone else that they could later take the series back in their direction.
They may not be able to do so this year. Defeating a team like the Sons four times out of seven is tough. Now they have to do it four times out of six to survive the first round, and they have to do it without James or Davis at their best. Their margin for error has disappeared. How can they beat the Suns if they are already beating themselves with these bad lineup decisions?
At least, that means dedicating more minutes to Marc Gasol and less to Montrezal Harrell. To be fair, the decision to play Harrell over Gasol in Game 1 was already a bit heady. Since the debut of Drummond, the Lakers have beaten opponents by 28 points, while Gasol is on the floor while they have lost Harrell's minutes by 88 points. The last time he saw Phoenix, Gasol was plus-10 while Harrell was minus-9. When Harel and Drummond began to clash in the fourth quarter, Vogel retook Gasol to seal the victory. Ideally, Gasol should start, but incorporating him into the game would go a long way towards getting the offense out of the way properly.
But there are other tricks to consider. Moving Schroder to the bench in favor of more frequent shooting guards, such as Alex Caruso or Wes Matthews, would help Drummond as well as Superstars score near the basket. Some backup center minutes may also work for Markieff Morris. Those lineups held their own against the younger Rockets last season, and Phoenix's bench has been equated with Dario Saric as the primary backup center. The Suns are not built to punish Morris's size, and while he is hardly an elite shooter, he is a threat enough to warrant defensive attention.
Big names are Drummond, Schröder and Harrell. He dominates the locker room. They are also small and adjacent free agents. No one would be happy to sacrifice minutes, and Vogel is balancing the fragile political situation here. But politics cannot come in the way of victory. Vogel made his season-long starter debut at Javale McGee last season, bringing the Lakers to the best possible position. If he is going to bring the Lakers back this season, he will have to make even more stringent decisions.
This is what it takes to win a championship most of the season. Typical postseason opponents are not as forgiving as the Lakers defeated last season. If Phoenix can punish the Lakers as easily as they do today, just think what Brooklyn can do to them in the finals.
The Lakers suffered two Game 1 defeats to adapt to the previous season. Hopefully this season will be enough to make it work. If it is not? The Lakers will have no one to blame themselves.