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The Cavs hang out in L.A. after beating the Clippers and take on the 2-3 Lakers Friday night. The big question is whether LeBron will play. He’s listed as day-to-day after missing the last two games with a sore ankle. The Lakers say they are taking a “marathon” approach, which I assume means they won’t be rushing him back and are focused on keeping him healthy for the long haul and the playoffs. LeBron turns 37 in a couple of months.
The Lakers are 1-2 when he plays and 1-1 when he doesn’t.
Even though this is a road game the Cavs have been in L.A. since Tuesday so they will be well-rested.
The Lakers have three superstars in Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, and LeBron. They finished 7th in the West last year but made a lot of moves in the off-season, with the main one being the acquisition of Westbrook. They are definitely in a “win now” mode as the window is closing fast.
After the three stars the Lakers have ten players on minimum contracts. This might be the oldest team in the league.
LeBron 36
Dwight Howard 35
Trevor Ariza 37 (he’s out with an injury)
Kent Bazemore 32
Avery Bradley 30
Wayne Ellington 33 (listed as out tonight)
DeAndre Jordan 33
Rajon Rondo 35 (day-to-day)
Carmelo Anthony 37
Russell Westbrook 32
The best thing the Cavs can do is try to run these guys off the floor. I think Sexton will love playing this team.
The Lakers will be in a foul mood, having lost to an 0-4 OKC team on Wednesday after blowing a 26-point lead. LeBron was out and the Lakers are also missing Ariza and Kendrick Nunn. The Lakers two wins were against Memphis by 3 points and San Antonio in overtime.
There's nothing wrong with their offense. The Lakers are averaging 116 points per game, same as the Clippers, who the Cavs held to 79 on Wednesday. They don’t shoot a ton of 3’s, ranking 19th in 3-rate, but are 8th in percentage made. The Cavs can’t let these old guys camp out and knock down 3’s. LeBron is hitting 48.3% of his 3’s, Anthony 43.3, Bradley 55.6 and Bazemore 42.9. As a team they’re at 34.2% from deep.
The Cavs are 5th in opponent's 3-point percentage at 31%. They need to keep that up and force those old fellas to take it inside against our bigs.
The Lakers also rank 8th in 2-point percentage. They just do a good job of hitting their shots. They don’t get a lot of offensive rebounds (24th), but they make their shots.
It’s another story on defense; the Lakers are last in scoring defense at 119.6 points per game. They’re the easiest team in the league to score on. They are last in points in the paint allowed. They are 27th in defensive rebound percentage, so the Cavs should be able to get some put-backs. They don’t get too many steals (22nd) and they will foul you (24th in points allowed on free throws).
There’s nothing they do well defensively except block shots (9th in block percentage thanks to AD and DeAndre Jordan). But despite the blocks they are still last in points in the paint allowed while the Cavs are 2nd in points scored in the paint. Take it to the rim, fellas.
LeBron and AD are averaging 38 minutes per game and Russ is averaging 36.2. This team is heavily dependent on the three guys that are taking up over 80% of their payroll. Carmelo, at age 37, is averaging 28 minutes. The Lakers will go as far as their aging stars can carry them. So far it's not looking good - a 2-3 record with an overtime win against a 1-4 team.
One area the Cavs may be able to exploit is at center, where the Lakers have Howard and Jordan. Between them they are averaging 28 minutes, which means the Lakers have been playing 20 minutes per game without a center. That may be a big problem against the Cavs.
With LeBron out the starters for the last two games were: AD, Bazemore (6’4”), Jordan, Westbrook (6’3”) and Monk (6’3”). If this lineup starts tonight the 6'4" Bazemore will be guarding Mobley or Markkanen.
It seems the Cavs' game plan is simple - push the tempo and attack the rim, then crash the offensive glass. Make those 30-somethings run the floor. On defense, continue to contest the 3’s, especially against Carmelo, Bazemore, Bradley, and LeBron (if he plays).
Here is the summary of John Hollinger’s season preview:
In terms of winning the ultimate prize, however, the pairing of Westbrook with James and Davis is more questionable. In a postseason environment, the three of them would be sharing the floor more often, and Westbrook doesn’t add much to that particular equation. He’s a subpar shooter off whom opponents will cheat and dare to fire away; in fact, all three Laker stars are players to whom opponents will happily concede 3-pointers. That makes it harder for each of them. Late in games, when James wants to handle the ball up top and slowly orchestrate, Westbrook’s defender will be chilling in the paint to gum things up.
All that might be OK if the Lakers follow their 2020 model of playing awesome defense and passable offense, but Westbrook will hurt them on that end too. Despite his athleticism and competitiveness, he’s a wandering, ball-watching defender who frequently runs himself out of position.
Ultimately, optimizing the Westbrook-James-Davis triumvirate for the regular season should be relatively painless. But the Lakers are built for the playoffs, and that’s where this gets more questionable.
The cbssports.com power rankings has the Cavs 11th and the Lakers 20th.
It's important to stress how early it is, but all of the fears about this Lakers roster have come to fruition early. The defense has been bad, 25th in the league to be exact. The Lakers have a minus-7.6 net rating with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook on the floor together. And with LeBron out of the game with an ankle injury, the Lakers blew a 26-point lead and lost to the then-winless Thunder. In addition to James, the Lakers are missing Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and Trevor Ariza, so there's hope that things will get better when they all return, and a soft upcoming schedule could help get some wins on the board.
This column delved deeper into the Lakers’ defensive woes.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lakers-defense-failing-miserably-early-in-season-as-front-office-puts-frank-vogel-in-impossible-position/
Of course, habits mean little without talent, and that is the biggest problem facing the Lakers right now. They just have too many bad defensive players…
You can scheme around Anthony's weaknesses. You can scheme around Monk's weaknesses. You can scheme around Jordan's weaknesses. You can scheme around Rondo's weaknesses. You can scheme around Westbrook's weaknesses. You just can't scheme around everyone's weaknesses. At a certain point, a defense reaches a tipping point at which no amount of star power can overcome the number of poor defenders on the floor…
The 2021-22 version hasn't come close to doing so. Through four games, they were allowing 21 wide-open 3-pointers per game, third-most in basketball. The 33 shots they're allowing in the restricted area per game is the second most in the NBA even with a healthy Davis on the floor. Meanwhile, the 8.8 mid-range shots they're allowing per game are the second-fewest in basketball. Right now, opposing offenses are having such an easy time against the Lakers that they virtually never have to take bad shots. They're creating exactly the looks that they want…
But they built a roster that wasn't designed to defend particularly well. It should therefore surprise nobody that, through five games, that roster isn't defending very well. The Lakers replaced most of their defenders with veterans who are either past their prime on that end of the floor or never had primes in the first place. No coach could overcome that. Not even Vogel.
The Lakers are 1-2 when he plays and 1-1 when he doesn’t.
Even though this is a road game the Cavs have been in L.A. since Tuesday so they will be well-rested.
The Lakers have three superstars in Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, and LeBron. They finished 7th in the West last year but made a lot of moves in the off-season, with the main one being the acquisition of Westbrook. They are definitely in a “win now” mode as the window is closing fast.
After the three stars the Lakers have ten players on minimum contracts. This might be the oldest team in the league.
LeBron 36
Dwight Howard 35
Trevor Ariza 37 (he’s out with an injury)
Kent Bazemore 32
Avery Bradley 30
Wayne Ellington 33 (listed as out tonight)
DeAndre Jordan 33
Rajon Rondo 35 (day-to-day)
Carmelo Anthony 37
Russell Westbrook 32
The best thing the Cavs can do is try to run these guys off the floor. I think Sexton will love playing this team.
The Lakers will be in a foul mood, having lost to an 0-4 OKC team on Wednesday after blowing a 26-point lead. LeBron was out and the Lakers are also missing Ariza and Kendrick Nunn. The Lakers two wins were against Memphis by 3 points and San Antonio in overtime.
There's nothing wrong with their offense. The Lakers are averaging 116 points per game, same as the Clippers, who the Cavs held to 79 on Wednesday. They don’t shoot a ton of 3’s, ranking 19th in 3-rate, but are 8th in percentage made. The Cavs can’t let these old guys camp out and knock down 3’s. LeBron is hitting 48.3% of his 3’s, Anthony 43.3, Bradley 55.6 and Bazemore 42.9. As a team they’re at 34.2% from deep.
The Cavs are 5th in opponent's 3-point percentage at 31%. They need to keep that up and force those old fellas to take it inside against our bigs.
The Lakers also rank 8th in 2-point percentage. They just do a good job of hitting their shots. They don’t get a lot of offensive rebounds (24th), but they make their shots.
It’s another story on defense; the Lakers are last in scoring defense at 119.6 points per game. They’re the easiest team in the league to score on. They are last in points in the paint allowed. They are 27th in defensive rebound percentage, so the Cavs should be able to get some put-backs. They don’t get too many steals (22nd) and they will foul you (24th in points allowed on free throws).
There’s nothing they do well defensively except block shots (9th in block percentage thanks to AD and DeAndre Jordan). But despite the blocks they are still last in points in the paint allowed while the Cavs are 2nd in points scored in the paint. Take it to the rim, fellas.
LeBron and AD are averaging 38 minutes per game and Russ is averaging 36.2. This team is heavily dependent on the three guys that are taking up over 80% of their payroll. Carmelo, at age 37, is averaging 28 minutes. The Lakers will go as far as their aging stars can carry them. So far it's not looking good - a 2-3 record with an overtime win against a 1-4 team.
One area the Cavs may be able to exploit is at center, where the Lakers have Howard and Jordan. Between them they are averaging 28 minutes, which means the Lakers have been playing 20 minutes per game without a center. That may be a big problem against the Cavs.
With LeBron out the starters for the last two games were: AD, Bazemore (6’4”), Jordan, Westbrook (6’3”) and Monk (6’3”). If this lineup starts tonight the 6'4" Bazemore will be guarding Mobley or Markkanen.
It seems the Cavs' game plan is simple - push the tempo and attack the rim, then crash the offensive glass. Make those 30-somethings run the floor. On defense, continue to contest the 3’s, especially against Carmelo, Bazemore, Bradley, and LeBron (if he plays).
Here is the summary of John Hollinger’s season preview:
In terms of winning the ultimate prize, however, the pairing of Westbrook with James and Davis is more questionable. In a postseason environment, the three of them would be sharing the floor more often, and Westbrook doesn’t add much to that particular equation. He’s a subpar shooter off whom opponents will cheat and dare to fire away; in fact, all three Laker stars are players to whom opponents will happily concede 3-pointers. That makes it harder for each of them. Late in games, when James wants to handle the ball up top and slowly orchestrate, Westbrook’s defender will be chilling in the paint to gum things up.
All that might be OK if the Lakers follow their 2020 model of playing awesome defense and passable offense, but Westbrook will hurt them on that end too. Despite his athleticism and competitiveness, he’s a wandering, ball-watching defender who frequently runs himself out of position.
Ultimately, optimizing the Westbrook-James-Davis triumvirate for the regular season should be relatively painless. But the Lakers are built for the playoffs, and that’s where this gets more questionable.
The cbssports.com power rankings has the Cavs 11th and the Lakers 20th.
It's important to stress how early it is, but all of the fears about this Lakers roster have come to fruition early. The defense has been bad, 25th in the league to be exact. The Lakers have a minus-7.6 net rating with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook on the floor together. And with LeBron out of the game with an ankle injury, the Lakers blew a 26-point lead and lost to the then-winless Thunder. In addition to James, the Lakers are missing Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and Trevor Ariza, so there's hope that things will get better when they all return, and a soft upcoming schedule could help get some wins on the board.
This column delved deeper into the Lakers’ defensive woes.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lakers-defense-failing-miserably-early-in-season-as-front-office-puts-frank-vogel-in-impossible-position/
Of course, habits mean little without talent, and that is the biggest problem facing the Lakers right now. They just have too many bad defensive players…
You can scheme around Anthony's weaknesses. You can scheme around Monk's weaknesses. You can scheme around Jordan's weaknesses. You can scheme around Rondo's weaknesses. You can scheme around Westbrook's weaknesses. You just can't scheme around everyone's weaknesses. At a certain point, a defense reaches a tipping point at which no amount of star power can overcome the number of poor defenders on the floor…
The 2021-22 version hasn't come close to doing so. Through four games, they were allowing 21 wide-open 3-pointers per game, third-most in basketball. The 33 shots they're allowing in the restricted area per game is the second most in the NBA even with a healthy Davis on the floor. Meanwhile, the 8.8 mid-range shots they're allowing per game are the second-fewest in basketball. Right now, opposing offenses are having such an easy time against the Lakers that they virtually never have to take bad shots. They're creating exactly the looks that they want…
But they built a roster that wasn't designed to defend particularly well. It should therefore surprise nobody that, through five games, that roster isn't defending very well. The Lakers replaced most of their defenders with veterans who are either past their prime on that end of the floor or never had primes in the first place. No coach could overcome that. Not even Vogel.
