Lakers: Biggest Takeaways From the First 20 Games
Defense and Turnovers Are Still a Work In Progress
For all the praise heaped on the Lakers offensive improvement, the other side of the ball remains a glaring weakness. Luckily, this young squad has been able to score in bunches, masking their shortcomings on the other end.
This season, The Purple and Gold are giving up the fourth most points in the league and 28th in defensive efficiency. These numbers are reminiscent of last year, when team finished 27th and 30th in the respective categories.
The addition of Timofey Mozgov has certainly helped with rim protection, but their lapses in rotation and and lack of a true perimeter ball-stopper has been too much to overcome.
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They’re giving up the most points in the paint in the NBA and are surrendering the fourth most second-chance points. This will likely improve over time, but a lot of these points can be chalked up to a lack of hustle and fundamentals. With Clarkson, Williams, and D’Angelo Russell all playing heavy minutes, Walton will need to find a to compensate for their poor on-ball defense, especially while their ironing out the kinks in their defensive rotations.
And then there are the turnovers. They currently turn the ball over at the seventh-highest rate and give up the third most points off giveaways. This is fully expected for a young, fast-paced team learning a new offensive scheme, but they’ve played their way out of a few games because of it.
While this isn’t surprising, it’s also not acceptable in the long-term. NBA players will end up getting their hands on passes, but unforced errors have piled up so far this season. Still, with a team this young coming off of a putrid 17-win seasons, we can be patient, as long as they keep it up on the other end.
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What has been your biggest takeaway from the first 20 games? Let us know in the comments below or join the conversation on Twitter (@TheLakeShowLife).