With LA up four and minutes away from sweeping consecutive road games against a fellow Western Conference foe, the team sets up on one of its final defensive possessions.
As they’ve done all game, the Lakers threw a double team at superstar Kevin Durant. His frustrations are clearly mounting over a blatant form of coverage he doesn’t encounter regularly.
Pounding the basketball in retreat, Durant passes out of the trap, pointing and directing to no avail as a cross-court pass creates no advantage with
all Lakers in ready position. The weak side catch results in a Tari Eason airball over the outstretched contest of LeBron James.
The Rockets fall in crunch time and give LA a stranglehold on the coveted three seed.
Before the Pistons snatched away victory in the final seconds, the Lakers were in the midst of a nine-game winning streak. It was a run that featured the purple and gold slowing down some of the top stars in the league, doing so with an unorthodox, playoff-style approach to defense.
A variety of reasons contribute to the overall improvement on that end. There’s been a renewed effort across the board, led by LeBron’s role and usage being set appropriately, allowing him to devote more energy to “big man” responsibilities. Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić‘s increased physicality and intent, along with Deandre Ayton’s role rejuvenation, all play a part as well.
A major contributing factor is head coach J.J. Redick’s game planning and adjustment for each matchup, specifically tailoring coverage of the opposing star with his available personnel and the situation it calls for game to game.
“This time of year, with the standings the way they are, a chance to get the tiebreaker over Denver, we treated this like a playoff game,” Redick said after the team’s big home win over the Nuggets. “Our guys approached it like a playoff game. They played it like a playoff game. It wasn’t perfect, but they stuck with it.
“The winning plays really stood out. And then just their ability in high-pressure situations to execute multiple end-of-game situations was really high level.”
That approach began with doing things that normally spell death against a player like Nikola Jokic. It was decided early to switch any screen with the superstar big man, then front the post with the guard to deny the entry pass and close by sending a quick double to prevent any isolation play.
Watch them execute it in the defensive possession below. Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes are involved in the initial action. They switch the screen, with Kennard now responsible for fronting the post and making the pass as difficult as possible. Jokic catches it on the extended wing while the Lakers instantly show him bodies.
Notice the rotations around it. Every player is in sync with their close-outs. The ball swings a few times and leads to a Jamal Murray contested miss at the rim. The fellow Nuggets star, who’s had his way with LA in the past, was held to just 1-14 shooting that evening.
The Lakers didn’t shut down Jokic, as he still put up his numbers. But this aggressive, intentional defense forced him into 13 turnovers in their last two meetings.
“It was a total team effort,” Marcus Smart said. “To be able to adjust on the fly, we were throwing different looks at him. Not a lot of looks we threw at him; we practiced. It was just kind of go and make a play. I think that speaks volumes about the team, the chemistry that we’re building, and the chemistry with the coaching staff.”
That chemistry continued a few days later against the Rockets, as the Lakers brought out another unorthodox game plan.
In the clip below, the Lakers have Jake Laravia and Hayes involved at the top of the key. They “red” one through five, meaning to switch and hope to negate any advantage a screen may create. Then, Laravia comes to “fire”, or put two on the ball to get the ball out of Durant’s hands.
This way, it not only gets the ball out of the superstar’s hands but also lets the team dictate the terms of engagement for who gets the open shot.
LA trusted their rotations behind the aggressive on-ball coverage and lived with the Rockets’ wings being forced to playmake out of a four-on-three situation. Dorian Finney-Smith, under duress, heaves the ball over the head of his teammate out of bounds.
Durant was held to just two points in the second half, along with seven turnovers, the second most he’s had all year. He joins a host of stars LA has kept in check with this style, including Anthony Edwards at 2-15 shooting and Paulo Banchero at 4-14 shooting.
How this holds up against teams in a real playoff setting with time to prepare remains to be seen. Taking something away defensively will open up counters elsewhere. This aggressive switching style, with the tendency to overhelp, can create damaging mismatches and wide-open looks.
With that said, the Lakers are 13-2 in their last 15 games, posting the 10th-best defense during that stretch, and seem to be rolling high into the playoffs. It’s allowed a team made up of below-average to passable defenders at best to commit to a style that rewards them with wins for the effort they put in.
Whether this defense is legit or a “gimmick,” as Durant described it postgame, it has the Lakers believing and playing in lock step with each other. That’s just as, if not more than, important as anything Redick could draw up on his clipboard.
You can follow Raj on X at @RajChipalu
