The Lakers will face the Timberwolves in the NBA Playoffs, meaning the biggest defensive question will be how they defend Anthony Edwards.
Final playoff seedings were set early Sunday after a thrilling overtime game between the Clippers and Warriors, which resulted in the Lakers drawing the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.
The biggest defensive question for head coach J.J. Redick will be how they plan to defend young superstar Anthony Edwards. Los Angeles and Minnesota faced each other only once following the blockbuster Luka Dončić trade, providing some insight into their strategy.
Edwards led his team to 49 wins following a Western Conference Finals appearance last season. The 23-year-old averaged 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists throughout the season. He has already demonstrated an ability to excel in the playoffs with series wins over the Nuggets and Suns just a year ago.
The first step in attempting to slow down any star of this magnitude is to make him see bodies at all times.
Watch the clip below as Minnesota tries to isolate Edwards on the wing. Notice LeBron James pointing at Austin Reaves to offer low help while Rui Hachimura, the primary initial defender, forces him baseline.
L.A. zones that side of the floor, with all other defenders, prepared to rotate in the four-on-three situation.
Edwards kicks it to the nearest teammate, Naz Reid, allowing the Lakers to reset without giving up an advantage. Conley misses the contested three and LA secures the rebound.
The defensive objective here is to prevent high-volume threes and the consistent attacks at the basket, where he terrorizes defenses with athletic finishes or trips to the free-throw line.
Easier said than done.
Edwards had a career year from beyond the arc, shooting 39.5 percent on 10.3 3-point attempts per game. According to NBA’s tracking data, 7.3 of them per game were of the pull-up variety. In addition, he ranked third among all guards in free throws attempted, with 6.3 trips a night.
Edwards and Jayson Tatum are the only players in the league to shoot over ten 3-pointers and six free throws per game, a unique combination to combat.
Basketball is a game of counters, and eliminating everything is impossible. A defensive possession can still be considered a win even when the offense scores. The same scheme is evident in the clip below, but Edwards still manages to convert the baseline fade-away against two defenders.
The above shot is one LA will have to live with while being one Edwards is more than capable of converting.
In their previous matchup, the Lakers employed a switch on the pick and roll, to negate the advantage of the ball screen while also allowing them to keep help defenders close to the basket when Edwards drives to the hoop. In the example below, you can see Edwards targeting Luka Dončić, a common strategy used by teams facing the Lakers and one that they will definitely encounter in this series.
As LA switches, they quickly collapse into the paint to defend the drive. Four players keep at least two feet in the paint, forcing Edwards to make a difficult, twisting over-the-shoulder pass that gets deflected.
Edwards is a highly skilled north-south driver, capable of accelerating past defenders if they don’t contain him early. Los Angeles will plan to force him to drive east and west instead, aiming to create situations that lead to indecision in his shots and passes.
One defensive strategy the Lakers have used against various star players is to deny them the ball. When facing post players like Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic, they typically position themselves to front the post while providing help from the backside.
Against more perimeter players like Edwards and Kawhi Leonard, it’s to deny and force the catch as far out as possible. In the video clip below, you can see Dorian Finney-Smith initially chasing Edwards and calling out LeBron to switch. LA forces the catch well behind the 3-point line, enabling their defense to establish a solid protective stance in the paint.
They force a drive into traffic, with Jaxson Hayes and Finney-Smith there for the contest.
The Lakers started the game with Rui Hachimura as the primary defender, but they will rotate through several defenders throughout the series.
Neither team will take the last matchup as definitive evidence, as the Lakers led by as much as 23 in the first half and Edwards was ejected with 5:21 left in the third quarter. For Los Angeles, it was Dončić’s sixth game with the team and he clearly wasn’t in peak condition. Minnesota, meanwhile, was without Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert, who are key fixtures on both sides of the ball.
That said, the Lakers have had a specific game plan against superstars under Redick and will look to put that strategy to the test against another one beginning with Game 1 on Saturday.