LOS ANGELES — The first few film sessions of the season presented a tricky challenge for coach Frank Vogel: How can you show the Lakers what good defense looks like if you don’t have any tape of it?
Maybe it wasn’t quite that extreme, but after the Lakers gave up at least 115 points in their first five games of the season, Vogel acknowledged that it was a lot easier conducting Saturday’s film session after a 113-101 victory in which they held the Cavaliers to 16 points in the fourth quarter.
“It’s great to be able to positively reinforce rather than show corrections always,” Vogel said. “There was a lot of that on tape the other day. Lot that we still need to get better.”
Among the areas that the Lakers improved: their big men played higher on guards; they challenged better under the rim; they contained better in one-on-one situations. Vogel also noted that they boxed out better than they have, “even though the rebounds weren’t good.”
On Friday night, the Lakers recapped the game saying that passionate confrontations at halftime and during timeouts had inspired them to get a little more serious on the defensive end. Anthony Davis said he would take “all the blame” for the team’s spotty communication on defense.
“It’s kind of like my biggest role on the team is to get locked in defensively,” he said. “If anybody have defensive questions about the bigs, it’s on me. I talk to the guards about things. The coaches kind of lean on me for defensive purposes. So I take responsibility for that.”
The Lakers entered the evening ranked No. 27 in defensive rating (111.0), a far cry from their No. 1 finish last season under Vogel. But early against the Rockets, they showed a continued trajectory of improvement, keeping Houston to a mere 35 points in the first half.
Commitment is the key, Davis said.
“Our scheme works. We just have to be committed to doing it,” he said. “And let the team know just commit energy and effort to defense. It’s a mindset, ‘OK, I’m gonna play defense. And I’m gonna do my job, and whatever my job is, if it leaves my guy open, I know the next guy is gonna take the rotation to cover me, because I’m doing my job.’”
Howard misses game
The latest Lakers’ injury came as a surprise: Vogel said Dwight Howard woke up with stiffness in his neck and was a game-time decision. Despite a light on-court workout about an hour before tip-off, Howard was ultimately not available to play in his typical reserve spot against Houston, one of his former teams. Since the Lakers’ shifted DeAndre Jordan out of the starting lineup, Jordan played Howard’s typical rotation role.
For the fourth straight game, Wayne Ellington dressed, but did not play in the rotation. Vogel said Ellington played well in Saturday’s practice, but the Lakers want him to practice at least once more before he returns to the floor in a game. Ellington has nursed a hamstring injury since the preseason.
Long-term, Vogel said Trevor Ariza and Talen Horton-Tucker are still a ways out. Though Horton-Tucker is scheduled to be reevaluated in mid-November, a person with knowledge of his workouts said that it may still be three to four weeks until he’s able to play with his surgically repaired right thumb. Vogel didn’t offer an official timeline for either player.
“I know they’re still in the window of not available to us yet,” he said. “So I don’t even know what the timeline is, but they’re both working hard on their rehab. Obviously I see them doing that, but I don’t have details on where they’re at.”