The Lakers success was more than LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma
The Lakers had a ton of support against Memphis and the surprise came in the form of Josh Hart finding his 3 point form and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The two each dropped 16 points with most of the scoring coming from outside shooting. LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma controlled the game, but these two made it easy…
More KCP double-screen action puts an end to the Grizzlies' run.
— Joey Ramirez (@JoeyARamirez) December 9, 2018
Flies around Kuzma and Chandler before relocating back to the corner where he started. Definitely his best shooting night of the year. pic.twitter.com/dOMyqYm5iK
Notice the movement of KCP here. The Lakers drove the defense nuts all night long with the double screen offensive scheme. With LeBron James waiting for the play to develop, KCP uses Marc Gasol against his own player to get into the corner.
LeBron hits Kuzma with the pass and Kyle swings the ball over for the quick 3.
Here’s another example of KCP’s play and how it got Josh Hart involved offensively…
Here's KCP striking off screens. Helps when it's LeBron James and Tyson Chandler setting those monster picks. pic.twitter.com/FLnP8aT1ET
— Joey Ramirez (@JoeyARamirez) December 9, 2018
If you hit the bottom screen, you will see KCP constantly on the move running through screens to get his shot off. The double screens that he is getting comes from LeBron James and Tyson Chandler. To fully understand what KCP is doing, put yourself in the mind of what Kyle Korver or JJ Redick does for their respective teams. Running the defense off of constant screens will wear out defenders. Garrett Temple is the 3 and D guy for Memphis. Temple missed all of his 3 point shots. It makes a difference.
If you will hit the top screen, you see the cause and effect of KCP’s hot shooting. It opens up a misdirection play for Josh Hart so he has time to get his shot off. Let me tell Lakers fans this. If Josh Hart gets his feet set behind the line, more often that not he knocks the shot down.
KCP continues to run off screens in the offense. Now that he’s hot, the defense now loses sight of Hart on the wing. That’s all that Hart needs.
At the beginning of the season, I was very critical of the Lakers not playing hard with purpose. These plays shows what playing hard does. Josh Hart does not get the space he needs unless KCP runs hard in the offense. The purpose that KCP shows keep the defense guessing. If he does not, the defense has less pressure put on them. These plays keep defense honest and opens opportunities and options for everyone.