Defense wins championships, as the old adage goes. While this team is unlikely to reach championship heights, it has secured the Lakers no lower than a fourth seed in the playoffs. This guarantees them home court in the first round, regardless of what happens on the final day of the regular season.
LA has had a real defensive turnaround post-All-Star break, jumping from 23rd to 14th in defensive rating. They showed their teeth on the second night of a back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
The Lakers’ stingy defense held Phoenix to only 25 second half points as they led by as many as 29 en route to a comfortable victory. Phoenix mustered up just 73 total points, a season low for any opponent by a mile. This also follows up allowing just 103 points to the Warriors the night before.
The Suns came in heavily shorthanded on Friday. They were without many backcourt players, including their star guard Devin Booker. It pushed Dillon Brooks, a 20-point-per-game scorer this year, up into the No. 1 option.
After a turnover on the play below, all Lakers sprint back in transition. LA switches the first screen, so LeBron ends up guarding Brooks. Then the opposing center, Mark Williams, sets a second screen. Ayton responds by dropping into the Lakers “no roller behind” coverage, which stops any lob pass and discourages drives. This forces Brooks to settle for a contested pull-up shot over LeBron.
All five Lakers on the floor are clearly in sync with the game plan.
The same result occurs a few possessions later. The purple and gold switch all screen actions in the clip below, negating any potential advantage, while in lockstep on their help responsibilities to shut down all baseline drive attempts.
It’s kicked out to Brooks once again for a side step shot as the shot clock dwindles to zero. Brooks fished just 5-14 from the field with three turnovers.
“I thought the whole game, our defense was really physical outside of a couple mishaps,” head coach J.J. Redick said postgame. “I thought we talked pregame a lot about just being able to execute our coverages because they do so many different things. Whether it’s stack, the backside action, all the off-ball stuff, I think our guys did a great job of that and they did it with physicality.”
A major part of the Lakers’ defensive execution, physicality and overall identity all season is Marcus Smart, who returned off the bench for the first time since missing nine straight games. LA certainly missed his intensity and consistent motor, represented in the clip below.
Watch him knock the ball away to steal the rebound and whip the pass over to Jarred Vanderbilt for the finish.
Smart collected two steals in just 18 minutes to go along with five rebounds and seven assists. LA as a team forced 17 steals and 23 total turnovers against the Suns. Not a single Laker finished with a negative plus-minus with all five starters being a double-digit positive.
Without the services of Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, the Lakers not only miss their starting backcourt but also the league’s highest-scoring duo, with 67 combined points per game. It’s too much production to make up for, and it makes the offense a tough thing to lean on.
Where they can consistently hang their hat is in their effort and execution on defense. It’s not what the team was originally built on, but circumstances have changed. If they want to survive in the playoffs, their team defense will have to carry them.
You can follow Raj on X at @RajChipalu
