The Los Angeles Lakers have, for the most part, been an offense-first team this season. Marcus Smart, at age 32 and four seasons removed from his Defensive Player of the Year campaign, represented the team’s best overall defensive player. The results reflected that, as the Lakers were the No. 24 defense in the NBA through the first 58 games of the season.
But something has changed in the last 10 games. The Lakers are 9-1, with wins over the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and — as of Monday night — the Houston Rockets, as well. They have the No. 6 defense in the NBA in that span and look like a legitimate playoff contender for one of the first times all year.
Their defense particularly shined against the Rockets down the stretch. They held Houston to 35 points in the second half, 12 in the fourth quarter and only four points in the final 6:12 of the game. Knowing exactly what it takes to build a championship-contending defense, Smart spoke about what the Lakers can do when they are defending this way, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We can be really good, we all know it. Our offense can be top of the top, very talented. So adding some defense like this, it makes us a really dangerous team. Our problem is staying consistent, right? That’s something we’ve been working on, that’s something we’re every day improving on. We understand it and we’re gonna try to continue to improve in that area.”
Smart followed up by discussing how the Lakers can achieve the consistency they’ve lacked for much of the season:
“We’re way up with the commitment part of that, we’ve exceeded where we were to start the season, exponentially. You’ve got a 41-year-old LeBron James diving on the floor, right? That right there speaks volumes on where we were to where we’re at now, and to where we’re continuing trying to go. You got Luka taking charges, getting steals and moving his feet. You’ve got AR taking charges, steals, moving their feet, holding their own and not being liabilities. Then you got me picking up my pressure. DA, Jaxson and everybody else who comes in, we’re all trying to elevate our game, not on the offensive end because we know we can do that, but on the defensive end. We’re trying to take as much pride as possible there. We’re not perfect, we understand we still have a lot to get better at, but each and every day we’re getting better.”
It is remarkable the difference effort, buy-in and commitment can make to turn a bad defense into a good one. That’s exactly what Smart is referring to with the recent stretch of games from the Lakers.
L.A.’s offense is always going to be there. They are led by three of the smartest players in the NBA in Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. But the defense is going to need buy-in from everybody to stay at this level, especially when games get consistently tight in the playoffs.
JJ Redick optimistic after recent Lakers stretch
Prior to the Lakers defeating the Rockets, head coach JJ Redick already had optimism from what he was seeing in the team’s previous 8-1 stretch. Surely, that confidence is even higher with another impressive win on the books.
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