2.) Take away the mid-range
The Blazers are currently ranked 4th in mid-range shot attempts per game, and 3rd in terms of accuracy. A lot of this can be attributed to their two prolific mid-range artists in CJ McCollum and newly acquired Carmelo Anthony. However, these two greatly differ in how they get those shots.
McCollum is an incredibly crafty player, using his elite handle and deceleration to create space for himself. Anthony, on the other hand, prefers to get to his spots in a much more old fashioned, ground and pound style of play, using his size and strength to get to his spots.
By the numbers, 48% of McCollum’s shot attempts come from the mid-range, while Anthony is slightly less at 44%. Generally speaking, these are the types of shots you want to force a team to take, and most of the time you’d be right in doing so. However, when you have two players in McCollum and Anthony who are borderline elite at the mid-range, you have throw normal convention out the window.
Currently, the Lakers are not a good team at defending the mid-range, as opponents are shooting 40.2% from the mid-range, which puts them at 19th in the league, and an even worse 47% from the long mid-range, 29th in the league.
A large chunk of the Blazers offense relies on the mid-range shot, so it would appear that the Lakers need to re-adjust their game plan and make life difficult for McCollum and Anthony.