Los Angeles Lakers: Is Charles Barkley right about LeBron James?

The first half was a continuation of the problems in the first game. But Frank Vogel changed the game plan. 

The absence of Rajon Rondo with a calf injury led to the same starting lineup when they faced the Indiana Pacers. Again, the offense sputtered when James was featured as the team’s point guard.

Frank Vogel continued his belief in “defense first” philosophy putting James alongside strong perimeter defenders Danny Green and Avery Bradley along with Anthony Davis and JaVale McGee on the backline.

The Lakers offense was actually bad, as they scored just 43 points in the first half. The offense was sloppy and stagnant which 34.8 percent from the field with 10 turnovers would attest. Vogel had to be pleased with the defense giving up 37 points, but even that was skewed.

The Jazz was missing Bojan Bogdanovic who was out with an ankle injury and Mike Conley, Jr. was just missing in action (If you watched the Clippers game, you know he’s back!). Bottom line, the first 24 minutes stunk up the Staples Center. Then Vogel made a decision that turned the season around offensively.

Frank Vogel has already shown that he is an upgrade from Luke Walton with this adjustment. Give him a ton of credit for noticing the issues on the offensive end and adding Caruso to the starting lineup. That meant another ball-handling guard alongside James. AD sent his blessings as well.

"“On that last maybe three minutes in that second quarter we had me at the five and we were just running pick and rolls, and we had Rudy kind of disoriented in where he was going and LeBron was getting downhill and I was rolling to the basket, so it was a tough cover for Utah and we were finding guys on the weakside as well, so we thought it would be more effective with me at the five playing that way to be able to win this game”"

After Alex Caruso entered the game, everything changed. The numbers didn’t tell the story (two points, two turnovers with no assists), but his ability to handle the ball and defend opposing point guards helped make the game easier for James.

With Rudy Gobert out of the paint, LeBron James had avenues to move to the basket. He finished with 32 points. In this sequence you can see how the Lakers offense flows when LeBron doesn’t initiate the offense.

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1187947972476039168

With Caruso on the floor, LeBron James can worry about getting into his spots on the floor. The play eventually develops into a pick and roll which nobody in the NBA has shown the ability to stop yet. It was the next game, that Vogel knew that he might be on to something.