The Lakers still can’t stop the running game

Despite their strong start to the season, the Lakers are getting blitzed in transition at an ungodly rate. Again.

Before the Lakers and Cavaliers tipped off their game last Wednesday, Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson was asked about the importance of running against Los Angeles’ defense.

“We’re going to have to,” Atkinson said with widened eyes. “They’re too good in the half-court. They have one of the best rim protectors in the league, excellent perimeter defenders…so if we don’t get out in transition it’s going to be tough to score on them.”

The Cavaliers would go on to have no issue putting up points against the Lakers, as it turned out. Their 134 final tally featured hot 3-point shooting, dynamic guard play and a front court that bludgeoned their way to the cup with ease.

But what lit the fuse to their big night was their calculated gameplan to run it down the Lakers’ throats every chance they had.

Cleveland’s breakneck attack resulted in 17.8 points (averaged over 100 possessions) in transition alone. For context on how absurdly high that mark is, the 76ers led the league last season in transition points added with 3.8 per contest.

An outlier number like that could be chalked up as just an off night for other teams. Yet for the Lakers, it’s an outcome that has increasingly become more of the norm and a continued disconcerting hallmark of the LeBron James and Anthony Davis era.

Since the duo joined forces in 2019, the Lakers have not finished better than 20th in transition frequency percentage allowed. They’ve arguably been even worse than ever to start this season, allowing opposing teams to get into their early offense 19.6% of the time.

That is not only the third-highest rate in the NBA so far but would also be the worst mark for the franchise since the stat became trackable in the Cleaning the Glass database back in 2003.

As with any early-season statistical marker, it’s admittedly wise to take most data with a grain of salt. However, given the continuity on the roster and their past struggles, it’s worth examining once again why teams are blowing the Lakers’ doors off.

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Anthony Davis: out of sight, out of mind

As Atkinson alluded to in his pregame interview, teams have to account for Davis at all times when he’s on the floor.

The league’s Michael Myers, Davis’ presence looms over possessions even when he’s not directly involved or seen. He swoops in on the weakside to erase drives at the rim, the threat of him switching onto a ball-handler forces players to swing the rock the other way and his ability to make up ground forces self-doubt to creep in for even the most confident stars in the NBA.

One strategy teams have taken to account for this is to attack when Davis is clearly out of the play. Easier said than done given his aforementioned defensive tools, but the most effective means to achieving this has been by getting out in transition, specifically once Davis has fallen or is visually behind them.

This is not an entirely new tactic. However, given how effective Davis and the Lakers are when they’re set — 11th stingiest half-court defense — it’s become a more frequent trend to start the year.

Another reason why there seems to be more of an uptick is the role Davis’ offense has played.

Behind JJ Redick’s aim to make Davis the “hub” of the Lakers, the center is putting up career highs in scoring and usage. Davis is quietly also attempting the highest percentage of his shots at the rim (52%) since his rookie year and is averaging the shortest two-point shot distance of his career, according to PBP stats.

To be clear, these are big positives for Davis and the Lakers. The downside is if he’s one, shooting closer and two, shooting more, that leaves him more susceptible to being behind the play when the opposition hits the jets.

The Cavaliers exploited this with their guards pushing the pace after misses and their bigs leaking out often before Davis could recover.

This is not a unique problem for Davis, as teams have followed a similar script when they’ve played against Minnesota and Rudy Gobert.

Similar to Davis’ importance to Los Angeles’ defense, Gobert’s rim protection has proven invaluable for the Timberwolves and has forced teams to find alternative routes to scoring, namely, through transition.

Like the Lakers, the Timberwolves have been burned by early offense as they’ve allowed the fifth-highest transition rate to start the year.

Gobert was recently asked about how opposing fives, in particular, have caused damage by leaking out against Minnesota when he’s been preoccupied with guarding the paint. His answer shined a light on another issue present for the Lakers.

As Gobert mentioned, every player needs to get back and pick up the opposition that leaks out early, regardless of their size and position.

The problem for the Lakers is this responsibility often has rested in the hands of their backcourt, a tall task for a small group.

Lack of athleticism on the perimeter

With little movement to the roster in the offseason, the Lakers have had to bank on in-house improvements and a new voice in the locker room to make a difference in their record. The early returns are good, with the Lakers winning four of their first six games.

Even with their impressive start, however, some of the same underlying issues that plagued the team last season have reappeared. One of those weaknesses is the team’s continued lack of athleticism and physicality in the backcourt — especially on defense.

Beyond avoiding having to score against Davis in the half court, the other reason teams have been aggressive when he’s been caught behind the play is it creates opportunities to attack the Lakers’ guards.

There is a notable speed and strength deficit in the D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves’ backcourt that makes them even more vulnerable when they’re on their heels. This is a big reason why the Lakers have struggled so mightily against clubs with quick and physical guards in particular.

A team like the Sacramento Kings, for example, has presented several issues for the Lakers’ defense the past few seasons because of their shifty guards and thirst for transition opportunities.

In their most recent matchup, the Kings once again took advantage of their athletic edge as they sprinted up, down and past their backcourt counterparts all night.

In the instances the Lakers have found themselves in front of the ball on these runouts, the likes of Russell and Reaves simply do not offer enough adequate resistance for it to matter.

The result is the Lakers currently rank last in transition points allowed and transition defensive efficiency. Two ominous markers that put a termite-infested ceiling on the team’s defense overall.

The consequences of crashing the offensive glass

One of Redick’s most frequent talking points when hired as the new head coach of the Lakers was the importance of offensive rebounding.

Last season, Los Angeles was arguably the worst or cared the least about second-chance points in the league. That’s changed as Redick’s influence on the glass has already been felt.

After rebounding just 22.5% of their misses last year — second-fewest — the Lakers have made a noticeable jump, posting an offensive rebounding percentage of 28.9%, 14th highest, through their first six games. The extra possessions have made a positive impact on the team’s offense and have also jumpstarted players like Rui Hachimura to be more engaged when off the ball.

The monkey’s paw of it all, however, is it has also hurt their transition defense.

While there has long been a debate about the degree — if there is one at all — of teams who crash the offensive glass and their ability to stop the fastbreak, there have been multiple instances where the Lakers’ aggressiveness has burned them for specific reasons.

Because of their lack of rim protection outside of Davis, coupled with the defensive limitations of their perimeter players, the Lakers are less able to make up for being out of position when a transition opportunity arises than other clubs. This is something the opposition knows as well.

Teams are absolutely blitzing the Lakers whenever a miss occurs, with 42.2% of live ball rebounds resulting in a transition chance, per Cleaning The Glass. For context, that’s currently the highest mark allowed in the NBA and nearly 6% more than the second-closest team.

It’s clear that if you want to unravel the Lakers’ defense or get back in a game, all you have to do is run, especially when they’re crashing the offensive glass.

Teams like the Suns and, most recently, the lowly Toronto Raptors did just this on Friday, erasing the Lakers’ 26-point first-half lead quickly by taking advantage of out-of-position players.

As an attempt to identify and address their clear Achilles heel, the Lakers created an in-house metric last season that tracked how often players were caught in “limbo.”

“We have a limbo rate,” Redick said during training camp. “Limbo is you’re not crashing, and you’re not getting back. We were the worst team in the league last year at a limbo rate. In an ideal world, everybody crashes and we deal with the consequences of that. So we’ve got to sort of emphasize that and emphasize staying out of limbo.”

The clip below is a good example of what being in limbo looks like:

After James misses this three, Jaxson Hayes attempts to volley the offensive board to a teammate. James reacts and even begins to stunt in, but the Kings ultimately secure the defensive board. Because James does not fully commit to crashing in or retreating, he is late to recover, leaving multiple Lakers getting cross-matched.

Scenarios like these could ultimately be a byproduct of players unsure of when to appease Redick’s ask for more offensive rebounds or whether to get back. Basketball is a game that demands quick processing speed. So, whenever two inputs are being calculated at once, wires can get crossed and transition buckets can be scored.

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Given their record and tough initial slate, the Lakers are off to an encouraging start. And with a lighter schedule ahead of them, the early-season optimism should only continue.

But there should be genuine concern about how much their transition defense could hinder their ability to climb even higher in the Western Conference. For as exciting and efficient their offense has been under Redick, the Lakers have allowed the fourth-highest shooting percentage at the rim and have the 23rd-ranked defense thus far.

Their inability to stop teams from hitting the afterburners on them is a large reason why. And until they can figure out how to stop it, the Lakers will have to accept that most nights will look like a track meet.

All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated. You can follow Alex on Twitter at @AlexmRegla.