– Great defense
The old saying is that defense wins championships. In recent years, many people thought that it was the fun, high-paced Warriors offense that won championships. While they were certainly a great offensive team, it was on the defensive end of the court where they were arguably the best.
This offseason, the Lakers made a real commitment to the defensive end of the court with the hiring of Frank Vogel. Since becoming a head coach, Vogel has been one of the best in the NBA on the defensive end of the court. With the Indiana Pacers, Vogel helped lead them to becoming one of the best defensive teams in the league for multiple years.
So far with the Lakers, Vogel has brought that strong defensive mindset, and his players have bought in. In addition to having defensive-minded head coach, the Lakers also added players like Davis, Danny Green, and Avery Bradley this offseason. Adding some great defensive players with a great defensive head coach has resulted in the team being a Top-3 defense as of now in defensive rating.
If the Lakers can keep this type of play up on the defensive end of the court, they will have a lot of success for the rest of the season.