For the second straight game, head coach JJ Redick praised his team’s defensive performance following a sluggish start. In the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Miami Heat on Monday, Redick complimented their second-half showing, when they limited Miami to 45 points and a 95.7 defensive rating.
On Wednesday, he was pleased with how they responded after the Sacramento Kings raced out to 16 points in the opening 4.5 minutes. Ultimately,the Lakers bounced back for a comfortable 116-103 victory and moved
to 7-2 on the young season.
“I think when the game started, we were a little flat. I called an early timeout. They had 16 points. They scored 87 for the last 43:27 seconds or whatever it was [after] I called that timeout,” Redick said postgame. “The promising thing on that side of the ball is the effort and the intent to execute, I think, is really high. Second efforts were really good. We had a number of veer switches and peel switches and scrambles, had a number of late shot clock possessions for them, some shot clock violations. We did a lot on that end. I think the activity overall was really good, save for the first four minutes or whatever it was.”
Against the Kings, Los Angeles posted a 105.1 defensive rating, per Cleaning the Glass, which marked its third-stingiest effort of the season behind an Oct. 28 win over the Los Angeles Clippers (90.9 defensive rating) and an opening night romp of the Golden State Warriors (96.5).
The Lakers’ defensive anchor, Walker Kessler, is pleased with certain aspects of their play but still sees areas to refine as the year progresses, particularly in the open floor.
“We got to clean up some stuff on the defensive end,” Kessler said Wednesday. “Our half-court defense, once we get set, is pretty good. Got to do better in transition as a collective.”
While the Lakers allow the seventh-fewest points per 100 transition possessions (113.2), they allow the sixth-highest transition frequency (16.9%). Thus far, that inability to slow teams is really bogging them down. Despite being seventh in transition defense and eighth in half-court defense (91.3 points per 100), they’re just 16th in overall defensive rating, per Cleaning the Glass.
Despite Ja Morant’s absence, they’ll face a stiff test in their rematch Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers, which own the league’s top-ranked offense and sit top five in both half-court and transition efficiency. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Crypto.com Arena.
You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.
