2. If the Los Angeles Lakers improve their perimeter defense
The Los Angeles Lakers were torched from beyond the arc in their first scrimmage in the Orlando bubble. Dallas made 14 of their 38 three-point shots while the Lakers were only able to cash in on six of their 22 attempts.
Seth Curry especially torched the Lakers, going 8-8 from the field with six three-pointers. This was not a coincidence, either, as it was likely attributed to the Lakers not having Avery Bradley on the court to help the team in pick-and-roll situations.
Our own Kevin Germany did a great job in breaking down what exactly went wrong with the Lakers’ pick-and-roll defense in the scrimmage, how it resulted in more three-point shots and how the Lakers can improve moving forward.
The Lakers are facing another team that has lethal shooters as well. While the Magic are not an elite three-point shooting team, they have an elite three-point shooter in Evan Fournier. Fournier has made 40.7 percent of his three-point shots in 6.7 attempts per game.
Terrence Ross cannot be slept on either. He is not as efficient as Fournier but he has still made 35.7 percent of his threes in 7.2 attempts per game.
Hopefully, Alex Caruso will play in this game, which will give the Lakers MUCH-NEEDED help in defending the perimeter off of pick-and-roll situations. Will the Lakers continue to struggle in defending the three and will it be a legitimate concern moving forward or were the Mavericks hot and it was one bad night for LA?
The second scrimmage will help us answer that question.