The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of a season that's been defined by resilience. They've overcome blowout losses, multiple losing streaks, a rush of injuries to key players, and trades both successful and otherwise to carve out a 40-22 record with 20 games to play.
Los Angeles' most recent game was a disappointing loss, but even in defeat, it showed why it can sustain and build upon its success.
Los Angeles traveled to face the Boston Celtics on Sunday, Mar. 9. Unfortunately, the game ended in defeat in multiple regards, as it fell 111-101 to its bitter rivals and lost superstar LeBron James to a groin injury that could keep him sidelined for as long as two weeks.
According to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times, Lakers head coach JJ Redick was quick to point out a positive takeaway from the loss: His defense continued to play exceptionally well.
“Frankly, I thought we defended well tonight. Missing Jaxson and not being able to have him roam off of [Jrue] Holliday, I think, hurt a little bit with the rim protection, but we forced them into a lot of off-the-dribble jumpers after the first quarter,” Redick said. “We wanted to limit their threes. They shot 38 threes. They averaged 48. Tatum and Brown, for those guys, they played 42 minutes and 46 minutes and both took over 25 shots — like, we executed well defensively on a lot of things.”
On a night when James suffered an injury, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes were sidelined, and the Celtics scored 33 first-quarter points, the Lakers' defense continued to be a strength.
Lakers' defense can guide it through injury woes and into the playoffs
Los Angeles currently ranks No. 13 in defensive rating, but those who have been watching them know that's a misleading number. The Lakers boast the No. 1 defensive rating in the NBA since Jan. 15, allowing a mere 108.0 points per 100 possessions.
During that sufficient sample size of 25 games, the Lakers have gone 20-5—tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the NBA.
The offense has been nothing to scoff at, as Los Angeles also ranks No. 10 in offensive rating since Jan. 15. The driving force behind the Lakers' domination since mid-January, however, is an unrelenting commitment to an all-out effort on defense.
It's the primary reason Los Angeles has been able to navigate a season in which they traded their franchise center for a superstar perimeter playmaker and didn't miss a beat.
Clearly, both Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic guarantee a high level of play by simply being on the court. The entire team could've been turned on its head when they were swapped in the blockbuster trade, however, as the Lakers suddenly began to play through a star with an entirely different skill set and general location on the court.
Instead, the Lakers have committed to patience as the source of progressively figuring out their new identity on offense and emphasized defense above all else.
As the Lakers prepare to be without James for up to two weeks, as well as another starting forward in Hachimura, defense will be their greatest ally. Doncic and Austin Reaves will need to step up on offense, but the key to winning games will be maintaining the focus on elite defensive consistency.
Thankfully, even in defeat, the Lakers appear as committed as ever to staying the course and embracing what got them to 40-22.