The Los Angeles Lakers got embarrassed on Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They only managed to score 80 points and allowed the Timberwolves’ role players to score at ease. Optimists will disregard this game. It was the second night of a back-to-back, and key pieces like Austin Reaves were out with injuries. The Lakers sit at 12-9 and are only 3.5 games back from the top seed in the Western Conference. However, this record is fool’s gold. I am here to rain on the parade of Lakers fans. While the record is good, a deeper look at the stats tells a more concerning story.
Los Angeles Lakers Season In Review
Let’s start by looking at who the Los Angeles Lakers have beaten this season. They have feasted on inferior opponents through the first 21 games of the season. They have only beaten four teams with winning records: Phoenix, Memphis, and San Antonio (twice). Many of their victories have come against the bottom feeders of the league or teams who are dealing with massive injuries. Beating the worst teams in the league is a good thing. Championship teams take care of business against inferior opponents. However, championship teams also know how to beat the best.
Many of their marquee games haven’t been close. Tonight’s loss was yet another 25+ point loss against a good team. Denver, Memphis, Cleveland, Phoenix, and now Minnesota have all beaten the Los Angeles Lakers by more than 20 points. Even their wins are not always impressive. They barely beat the Jazz last week and have allowed bad opponents to stick around. Why is this happening? A deeper look at the stats tells you why.
The Defense
The Los Angeles Lakers defense has been awful this season. While Anthony Davis is a force down low, he is only one person. The defense doesn’t just rank in the bottom half of the league in many metrics; they are in the bottom five. Here are some of the rankings for the Lakers this season.
- 26th defensive rating
- 26th defensive rebounding percentage
- 26th opponent points in the paint
- 25th defensive efficiency
- 28th opponent fast break points per game
Yikes. It’s one thing to be poor in a certain area on the court. It’s another thing to be downright bad. The Lakers lack a dominant force on defense. LeBron James is past his prime. While he is still an above-average defender, he does not have the same intensity as he once did. (Let me be clear. This isn’t a knock on LeBron. The guy is 40. He’s been in the league for over 20 years. He shouldn’t be the best defensive player in the league.) The rest of the team is fine, but collectively, this team is awful at defense.
The Offense Isn’t Great Either
The offense has been keeping the team afloat, but it isn’t great either. Let’s start with some of the good. Los Angeles ranks 14th in points per game (114.0) and seventh in offensive efficiency. These aren’t elite ranks, but they aren’t horrendous. What is more concerning is the latest trends on offense. Over the last three games, the Los Angeles Lakers have been 16th in offensive efficiency and have only averaged 105.7 points per game, which is 25th in the league. They have a negative average scoring margin on the year as well.
Individually, James is starting to regress on offense. He hasn’t hit a three-point shot in the last four games, with a 0-9 performance against the Jazz last week. While his assist and rebound numbers have held strong, his shooting percentages have plummeted. Here are the shooting percentages for the last five games.
- 7-16 (43.7)
- 8-18 (44.4)
- 5-13 (38.4)
- 12-28 (42.8)
- 4-16 (25.0)
To give you some context, James is a career 50.6% shooter. The last five games are well below his career average. James simply isn’t getting to the basket like he used to. Again, he’s been in the league 22 years! He shouldn’t be moving like he did 20 years ago. I certainly don’t! However, I am not being tasked with being one of the two best players on a championship team. The Los Angeles Lakers are relying heavily on LeBron to carry them and there’s question whether he can at this point of his career.
Final Thoughts
The Los Angeles Lakers are not out of the race for a championship by any means. However, some drastic changes have to be made. At their current rate, they will enter the playoffs as one of the lower seeds and have a tough road to the Finals. That’s not what this team has in mind. The trend is not good, but the team has plenty of time to turn it around. Can they, or are they doomed to another early-round exit from the playoffs?
