It's really the only blemish on an otherwise dominant season: The Lakers average 100.5 points per 100 possessions with
LeBron James on the bench -- three points worse than the league's clankiest offense. It's all shooting: The Lakers with LeBron sitting don't get nearly as many profitable shots -- corner 3s and attempts in the restricted area -- and they brick away from just about everywhere.
The Lakers shoot 70% at the rim with LeBron on the floor -- a number that would lead all teams -- and a middling 63% when he sits,
per Cleaning the Glass. The drop-off on corner 3s is just as severe. Their expected effective field goal percentage with LeBron -- based on shot location, the identity of the shooter, and the proximity of defenders -- would top the league, but drops to around average without him, per Second Spectrum.
Some of this is bad luck, but most is shaky process. The Lakers have no identity when LeBron sits.
Rajon Rondo and
Alex Caruso dribble, dribble, dribble, but don't really get anywhere because defenders duck every pick. Someone burps up a contested jumper. Sometimes, the Lakers play these minutes with
Anthony Davis at center. Sometimes, they pair Davis and
Dwight Howard. Weirdly, they have tread water in the Davis-Howard minutes and hemorrhaged points when Davis mans the middle sans LeBron,
per NBA.com. Sometimes they go wild and play without
both LeBron and Davis.
It feels weird to say a dose of ballhandling would help, given both Rondo and Caruso are capable. But Caruso isn't a possession organizer, and late-career Rondo is hit-or-miss in that role against top defenses. He has been better as a connector -- a cutter and extra pass guy -- in the middle of possessions than as initiator. (
Rondo got a "like" in this space for his connector role last month.)
The Lakers know this. They are looking. They will also ramp up LeBron's playing time in the postseason; there might be only five or six non-LeBron minutes in the highest-stakes games. Davis on his own should win some of those stretches. But entire quarters -- and then games, then series -- can be lost in those segments.