The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t been known for their defense the last several seasons, to put it kindly. The team has ranked last in the league in defensive efficiency the last two seasons and been in the bottom two teams for the last three years.
The Lakers were obviously looking to climb out of that basement over the offseason, adding veterans like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Brook Lopez to improve their perimeter defense and rim protection, respectively.
Rookie point guard Lonzo Ball wasn’t a part of those futile defenses, but after the team held the Washington Wizards to 99 points in their 102-99 overtime win Wednesday — the lowest total they’ve held an opponent to in their four games this season — Ball felt the Lakers had made progress on the defensive end via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Lonzo Ball said the Lakers played their best defense of the season.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 26, 2017
Lonzo: “When we play together, for one, we are fun to watch & two, we give ourselves a lot better chance of winning…It starts on defense.”
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 26, 2017
The Lakers were certainly as active as they’ve been all season on defense against Washington, tirelessly making rotations to defend the rim throughout regulation and overtime while also bothering the Wizards’ 3-point shooters into 23.1 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Whether or not the Lakers can keep up that level of defensive intensity and effectiveness throughout the regular season remains to be seen, as young teams tend to ebb and flow on that end when it comes to focus.
However, it’s clear the Lakers are beginning to take more pride and interest in the defensive end of the floor, and if it results on a culture that values that end of the floor more going forward, then the team will be better off no matter where they ultimately rank this season.