Los Angeles Lakers: Why the Golden State Warriors won’t dethrone the Lakers
By Jason Reed
1. The Los Angeles Lakers’ perimeter defense is exceptional when it matters most
Frank Vogel did an excellent job in making the most out of his players in the NBA Playoffs and the Los Angeles Lakers’ perimeter defense was elite as a result. The team has exceptional defensive players, such as Danny Green and Alex Caruso, but also got the likes of Rajon Rondo to buy-in on defense.
The Lakers are potentially losing some pieces of the backcourt as Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are opting out of their contracts. We are also still unsure if Avery Bradley will be a Laker or even play next season.
The Lakers can easily replace those players on the defensive end and whoever the team brings in is going to be made the most of and the perimeter defense will continue to thrive. Vogel has not given us any reason to think otherwise.
This is not good for the Warriors, whose best players are guards. While they are the best backcourt in the NBA, the Lakers had a lot of success stopping good backcourts in the NBA Playoffs.
Nobody could stop Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers from scoring in the bubble. The Lakers did. They turned one of the highest-scoring teams in the league in the Houston Rockets into a bad offensive team and they effectively limited Jamal Murray in the Western Conference Finals.
Again, Curry and Thompson are the gold standard, but the Lakers know what it takes to limit their production.