Coming into Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers were ranked 18th in defensive rating. At first glance, this would make it seem as if they’re a weak defensive team, as they were last season when they ranked 20th in that category.
But a closer look at some more detailed stats reveals a somewhat different story. For starters, the Lakers have excelled at forcing mistakes and turning them into points. They rank second in opponents’ turnover percentage and first in points off turnovers per game, as well as third in blocks per game and first in steals per game.
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In addition, much of L.A.’s defensive troubles have apparently come in garbage time, as it has had some problems holding onto leads in the final minutes of games when coach JJ Redick has inserted players who are deep on his bench. Trevor Lane of Lakers Nation posted a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of the team’s defensive rating, and it has been rather solid, except in the fourth quarters of games.
The Lakers nearly blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead a couple of weeks ago against the Toronto Raptors, and they also gave up a good portion of the large lead they held on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks. Redick has elected to keep his starters, including Luka Doncic, on the court until the true waning moments of games, and while he has been criticized for doing so, it is clear why he doesn’t trust his end-of-rotation players to come in during what should be garbage time.
Still, the Lakers are 11-2, which ties them with the San Antonio Spurs for the NBA’s best record. While their defense may be at least somewhat flawed, their offense has been dynamite — they rank first in points per game, offensive rating and field-goal percentage, and they’re third in 3-point accuracy and seventh in fast-break points per game.
This article originally appeared on Lakers Wire: An interesting breakdown explains the Lakers’ poor defensive rating
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
