For a while, the Los Angeles Lakers have been a rather weak defensive team. On the season, they rank 22nd in defensive rating, but during their current three-game winning streak, they have shown some signs of improvement.
On Saturday, they held an injury-riddled Golden State Warriors team to 101 points before allowing just 104 points the following night against the Sacramento Kings. On Tuesday, the Lakers hosted a New Orleans Pelicans squad that had won five of its last eight games and excelled offensively during that time. But they held New Orleans to just 101 points while turning 19 Pelicans turnovers into 29 points.
LeBron James, who had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, was asked after Tuesday’s contest if Los Angeles has made strides on the defensive end. After hesitating for a moment, James responded in the affirmative.
“I think so,” James said. “I think we’ve made some strides defensively. We didn’t play much at all in zone tonight. We started the game out with it, we kind of went away from it. I thought the man-to-man defense was pretty good. I thought Jaxson [Hayes] and Marcus [Smart] were great on that end and then everybody else trickled in as well.”
The Lakers’ defense on Tuesday resulted in them generating 28 fast-break points, and they haven’t had that many games this season with an ample amount of transition scores. They struggled to connect from 3-point range (they were 11-of-37 from that distance), but they made four of their nine 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter, which was enough for them to pull away with the victory.
L.A.’s defense will be tested on Thursday when they visit the Denver Nuggets, who lead the NBA in points per game, offensive rating and 3-point accuracy. It currently sits in sixth place in the Western Conference at 37-24 and is just half a game behind the Nuggets, who are in fifth place.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on whether Lakers’ defense is improving
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
