Luka Doncic has the Lakers scoring enough to win most nights. He’d also like them to make life a little harder on the other team.
Despite a 10-2 start and six straight victories, Doncic sees plenty of room for improvement defensively.
“I think we can be way better than 21st,” Doncic said after the win over the Hawks, via Spectrum SportsNet and Ricardo Sandoval of Lakers On SI. “I think we have the potential for that.”
That’s a reasonable expectation for a team already showing how dangerous it can be with the ball. The Lakers lead the NBA in offensive rating and scoring, averaging 122.1 points. Doncic has made sure generating offense rarely becomes a problem.
Finishing defensive possessions has been another matter. Sandoval notes the Lakers rank near the bottom of the league in defensive rebounding percentage and opponent second-chance points, allowing 18.2 of the latter per game. Getting a stop doesn’t accomplish much if the other team gets another shot.
That gives JJ Redick a fairly obvious place to start. Better rebounding would reduce the number of possessions the Lakers have to defend and give their offense more opportunities to get moving before the defense is set.
It also requires everyone’s involvement. The big men can’t be expected to handle every box-out and loose rebound while the guards wait for an outlet pass.
The encouraging part is that Doncic is talking about what needs to improve while the Lakers are winning. A hot start can make it easy to overlook problems, especially when your best player keeps scoring his way around them.
As we recently explored, the Doncic-Austin Reaves partnership has helped change expectations. A more dependable defense would give the Lakers another reason to raise them.
They don’t need to become a finished product in November. They do need to start collecting the rebounds that allow a good defensive possession to count.
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