While much of the focus for the Los Angeles Lakers with Luka Doncic joining LeBron James has been on the offensive side of the ball, it is defense that has carried JJ Redick’s team over the past few weeks. The Lakers are 15-5 over the last 20 games and over that stretch have had the top defensive rating in the NBA.
Most would have expected that to drop once the team traded away its anchor on that end of the floor in Anthony Davis, but the Lakers have continued to make things extremely difficult on the opposition. A big reason for that has been the play of LeBron, who has really turned up his energy on that end of the court and Redick feels the Lakers leader has been defending at an All-NBA level as of late.
“Again, he defies what’s normal… And again, this is not an exaggeration,” Redick said after the Lakers’ victory over the Dallas Mavericks in which they held their fourth straight opponent to 102 points or less. “If you watch our basketball team every night, and you’ve watched our team now for the last six weeks or so, LeBron is playing at an All-NBA defense level.
“He is, and now, people may have perceptions of what he is as a defender; I watch it every night. He doesn’t get scored on in isolation if teams do try to target him. He blows plays up. He’s always in the right position, shifting, recovering. I think there was this perception of him at this age, like conserving energy. No, there’s no conservation of energy on that end of the floor. He’s played elite defense now for a while.”
Anyone who has watched James over the past couple of seasons could see that his defense often led a lot to be desired, but there is no denying that hasn’t been the case as of late as he’s been one of the tone setters for the Lakers defensively. And for LeBron himself, it’s a matter of self pride.
“Obviously it’s a collective thing, but I take that side of the floor very seriously,” James said. “I take my matchups very seriously every night and to be able to get stops in this league, it makes your offense that much better. But it’s just an individual pride for me. I kind of key in on my matchups, I key in on the pros and cons and I guess what my guys want to do along with other guys because it’s a lot of switching that goes on in this league and you have different matchups. So I try to read the scouting report on everybody and just make it tough.”
With players like James, Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers will figure things out offensively. Defense was the big question mark, but that has carried on since the trade and if it continues, it makes the Lakers that much more of a true championship contender.
LeBron James: Lakers wanted to beat Mavericks for Luka Doncic
Of course Luka Doncic wanted to beat the Mavericks in his first game against his former team and LeBron James revealed that he and the rest of the Lakers wanted to make sure he got that victory as well.
“Obviously we understood as his teammates that we wanted to try to get this win for him,” LeBron said. “Obviously we know what transpired not too long ago, so as his teammates we wanted to just try to back him in any way, shape or form. On the court, off the court, whatever. I’m happy that along with my teammates, I was able to make a couple plays down the stretch to get him this win.
“He probably won’t say it, but I think it means something to him, for sure, any time you face your former team and he spent seven years with them I believe, so it’s tough.”
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