3 Thoughts: Lakers Win in Overtime Against Toronto
By Daniel Tran
3. Don’t hire the Lakers for security at Home Depot© because they can’t protect the paint for the life of them.
If it’s not one thing about the Lakers defense that stinks, it’s another. Los Angeles held Toronto to 27.3% shooting from 3-point territory, but give up 58 points in the paint instead. Obviously, defending the Raptors at the 3-point line is a priority since they rank in the top-10 of the league in terms of 3-point field goal percentage, but 58 points is absurd.
Live Feed
Sir Charles In Charge
Though defending the Raptors hard at the 3-point line worked to some extent, it was disheartening to see the Laker big men fail to protect the rim again and again and again. It seemed like every time Greivis Vazquez, Kyle Lowry, or Lou Williams got to the rim, they had a free look at a layup. If the game plan is to defend the 3-point line hard and take a laissez-faire approach on the inside, at least give your guards adequate help with rotations and solid positional defense so there is at least some resistance at the rim.
If they took the time to defend the rim slightly and at least bother some shots, the Lakers could have easily cut that points in the paint total down to a still subpar 40 and win the game a lot easier than they did tonight. At least progress is being made.