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LakerTom
1 month ago

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Lakers and Luka’s crazy run rolls on

Wow! What started as a somewhat demoralizing season is turning into an incredibly fun late turnaround, with Luka Dončić and the Lakers doing something special every night.

A super fun run that now includes a seven-game winning streak and just one loss in their last eleven.

Lakers Empire
@LakersEmpire
Am I dreaming?

9:19 PM · Mar 18, 2026 · 139K Views
10 Replies · 113 Reposts · 1.36K Likes

The Lakers edged the Rockets 124–116, with Dončić delivering a series of late-game haymakers to win in Houston for the second time in three games. It capped an impressive eight-day run of stacking wins and clinching tiebreakers against all direct rivals for the third seed in the West.

The Lakers now have two fewer losses than the Rockets and Timberwolves, and three fewer than the Nuggets. With the tiebreaker edge, that’s essentially a three-game cushion with 13 games left.

Today’s notes:

LeBron James in ultimate blend-in, winning-impact role (VIDEO)

Luka finishes the Rockets with a series of highlight plays (VIDEO)

Lakers show they can beat the Rockets in multiple ways

Ayton’s first-half finishing and full fourth quarter (VIDEO)

Lakers dominate in transition, led by LeBron and Luka (VIDEO)

1-LeBron James in ultimate blend-in, winning-impact role (VIDEO)

Before we get to Luka Magic, you can’t overlook LeBron James’ super efficient 30-point game, in which he missed just one (!) of his 14 shots.

The biggest shift in this Lakers run is James taking a back seat to Dončić and Reaves, embracing an off-ball, attack-the-gaps role instead of being the main manipulator he’s been for 22 seasons. It’s a sacrifice that has significantly contributed to Dončić’s current comfort level.

Last night’s performance was a tribute to James’ greatness—his ability to morph and thrive as the ultimate role player, whether as a scorer in transition, an off-ball executor against favorable matchups, or an advantage punisher, making the right play in the blender. James scored 30 on just a 22.7% usage rate, which speaks volumes about the kind of game he had.

The 41-year-old had six dunks and fueled both the Lakers’ first-half transition dominance and the early fourth-quarter run with Dončić on the bench.

The Lakers Review
@TheLakersReview

“But I think what made the difference in today’s game was the start of the 4th quarter where ‘Bron and AR did an amazing job. We were down three, we started the quarter nine to zero so because of that we won the game.”

– Luka Dončić post game
10:30 PM · Mar 18, 2026 · 3.37K Views
16 Reposts · 183 Likes

2-Luka finishes the Rockets with a series of highlight plays (VIDEO)

“He definitely put on a clinic down the stretch.” — JJ Redick postgame on Dončić’s takeover

It’s hard to explain what kind of show Dončić put on in the last five minutes—a highlight-reel display of skill, passing, and ridiculous shotmaking that sucked the life out of the Rockets and their fans, some of whom again made the mistake of yapping at the game’s best crowd silencer.

Dončić continues his end-of-season push—silencing critics and making a case as a top-three, if not the best player in the NBA right now. A 50-point game, a game-winner against Denver, 30-point triple-doubles, and repeated late-game takeovers.

Last night: 40/10/9 and another message sent.

Sam Vecenie
@Sam_Vecenie

Have thoroughly enjoyed Luka’s “And I took that personally” run over the last few weeks after it seemed like a number of people started to talk some noise. What a gloriously unbelievable basketball player. Feels like we’re headed for another monster Luka playoffs.

11:50 PM · Mar 18, 2026 · 7.77K Views
4 Replies · 25 Reposts · 273 Likes
OptaSTATS
@OptaSTATS

Luka Dončić of the @Lakers is the first player in NBA history to have a 7-game span with:

250+ points
50+ rebounds
50+ assists
25+ threes made
undefeated record

9:53 PM · Mar 18, 2026 · 31K Views
23 Replies · 413 Reposts · 2K Likes

3-Lakers show they can beat the Rockets in multiple ways

If the first game was an ugly, low-scoring slugfest, this one was the opposite. With Alperen Sengun back, the Rockets had more firepower, and it showed—the Turkish big man finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Apart from a stretch in the third quarter, Kevin Durant was still mostly held in check by the Lakers’ constant blitzing, but they had no one nearly athletic enough to deal with Amen Thompson’s downhill attacks, rim pressure, and crashing the glass. To be fair, not many teams do.

The Lakers had to score at a very high rate against one of the best and most aggressive defenses in the NBA. Apart from a rough stretch in the third quarter, when the Rockets’ physicality and pressure out of halftime shook them, Dončić, James, and the rest had little trouble scoring, finishing with an elite 129 points per 100 possessions.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

With Durant underwhelming again, Udoka leaned on Sengun and Reed Sheppard for extended minutes. As I showed in my X &O video breakdown yesterday, that gave Dončić, Reaves, and James a weak link to hunt for most of the game.

4-Ayton’s first-half finishing and full fourth quarter (VIDEO)

If Sheppard was the player the Lakers attacked most in the first game, it was Sengun who became the main target tonight. He was the screener defender on 38 pick actions, well ahead of Sheppard in second, who was involved in just 11. Udoka used a similar scheme, having Sengun hedge against Dončić to prevent one-on-one matchups.

Deandre Ayton was the main beneficiary, getting opportunities on the short roll, and scoring 12 of his 16 points in the first half, and showing the finishing touch we were raving about, especially early in the season.

The Lakers scored at an elite rate of 1.219 points per chance in actions involving Sengun as the screener defender. The two Dončić highlight plays I shared earlier—splitting the double and finding Rui Hachimura and James for baseline lob dunks—were perfect examples, driven by Dončić’s elite ball-handling and Sengun’s lack of foot speed on the perimeter.

Ayton had just four rebounds, but aside from the third quarter, he matched the Rockets’ physicality with solid boxouts and contested several shots, finishing with three blocks. Redick trusted him with all but the final 30 seconds of the fourth, with the game already decided.

5-Lakers dominate in transition, led by LeBron and Luka (VIDEO)

The biggest part of the Lakers’ early-season struggles against good, aggressive teams was their turnovers and inability to catch their opponents in transition. To their credit, they fixed both problems, with better ball control significantly helping the latter.

If you look at my now-famous fast-break points differential chart, you’ll see the Lakers turning the corner, with way more positive (green) games than red ones, a stark contrast to the first three months of the season.

The Lakers won the fast-break points battle in both games against the Rockets, and last night, especially in the first half, they hustled on the boards and punished the Rockets’ glass crashes and turnovers, with numbers on the break.

James was, of course, the driving force, the usual unstoppable locomotive in transition. But last night he got plenty of help from an unusual source, as Dončić scored a season-high 11 points in transition.

LakerTom wrote a new post

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How Redick Suddenly Transformed Lakers Into Legitimate Contenders

March 18, 2026

In 19 days, JJ Redick transformed the Lakers from a 34–24 team hanging onto the #6 seed in the West to a 43–25 team that could lock up the #3 seed and tiebreakers with #4, #5, and #6 seeds with a win tonight in Houston.

The Lakers have now won 6 straight and 9 of 10 games. Over the first 58 games, LA had the #11 offense, #24 defense, and #19 net rating. The last 10 games, they boasted the league’s #3 offense, #6 defense, and #2 net rating. While their elite play may not be sustainable, the numbers clearly show Redick and his staff and the Lakers Big Three and role players have finally figured out how to transform their offense and defense into juggernauts.

As a team over the last 10 games, the Lakers have transformed their offense into a juggernaut by dramatically increasing their team’s assists, 3-point attempts, and 3 point makes while simultaneously slashing turnovers.
Over the last 10 games, the Lakers’ assists per game improved from 25.2 (#21) to 27.7 (#10), 3-point attempts from 33.2 (#25) to 37.9 (#14), 3-point makes from 1.7 (#23) to 14.3 (#9), and turnovers from 14.8 (#19) to 12.5 (#3).

Defensively over the last 10 games, the Lakers have also transformed their defense from a bottom-10 team to a top-5 team that plays extremely hard and has shown the ability to shut down on opposing team’s top scorers.
Statistically, the Lakers’ defense reduced opponent points per game from 115.9 (#18) to 109.3 (#6), opponent 3P% from 36.5% ((#21) to 30.0% (#1), steals from 8.1 (#18) to 9.8 (#7), and blocks from 4.1 (#28) to 4.8 (#14).

So how was JJ Redick able to transform the Lakers’ offense and defense into juggernauts over a 10-game 19-day stretch? Here are five major Lakers’ problems JJ Redick solved that transformed Lakers into legit contenders.

1. Solving Lakers’ Big Three Problem

…

The single biggest problem facing second-year head coach JJ Redick was figuring out how to make the Lakers Big Three of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James win the minutes they’re on the court together.

In the first 68 games in the Lakers’ season, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James only played together for 248 minutes in 14 games, posting a disappointing 109.6 offensive, 114.5 defensive, and -4.9 net rating.
In the 10 game just played, the Lakers Big Three finally discovered how to excel together, playing for 148 minutes in 7 of the 10 games while posting an elite 117.8 offensive rating, 99.4 defensive rating, and +18.5 net rating.

The key to the Lakers’ Big Three winning their minutes on court together was pairing them with Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart to give them the size and defense needed to best complement Doncic, Reaves, and James.
Redick also made the critical decision to move LeBron James from 2nd to the 3rd option when the Big Three are on court together and promote Austin Reaves to the role as Luka Doncic’s co-star and Lakers’ 2nd option.

The sudden emergence the last 19 days of the Lakers as a legitimate contender to win this year’s NBA championship has been buoyed by their dominating wins over the Spurs, Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Rockets.
While the Lakers were not a dominant force early in the season due to disabling injury stints by superstars James, Reaves, and Doncic, they’ve since figured out how to unleash their Big Three on offense and defense.

While the Lakers were not planning on bringing LeBron James back next season so they could use his cap space to sign a big free agent, JJ solving their Big Three problem could make it more likely that LeBron returns.

2. Making LeBron James 3rd Option

…

When the Big Three is on the court together, JJ Redick has designated LeBron James as the Lakers’ 3rd highest usage player going forward to allow Austin Reaves to be the 2nd option after superstar Luka Doncic.

LA plans to re-sign Austin Reaves to a new contract to join Luka Doncic as the Lakers’ backcourt of the future. They’re confident they will be able to build a championship level roster around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Give Redick credit for not being afraid to broach the subject of LeBron becoming the Lakers’ third option and James credit for being willing to accept the change. Suddenly, everybody has clarity and is on same page.

Designating Reaves as the team’s 2nd option going forward obviously would not work without LeBron James’ blessing, which it has, and the early results have been stellar as the new role’s perfect for LeBron and the team.
LeBron has always been a pass first player despite his otherworldly achievement of scoring the most points in NBA history. Kevin Durant could learn a lot from LeBron James about how to finish his career with class.

When the Big Three aren’t playing, the Lakers are now using two 5-man lineups with winning net ratings. One is an offense-first lineup led by Doncic and Reaves while the other is a defense-first lineup led by James.
JJ Redick designating LeBron James as the Lakers 3rd option was a critical move that needed to be made in order for everybody on the Lakers to be on the same page. Credit to JJ and LeBron for doing what needed doing.

JJ Redick’s decision to promote Austin Reaves to 2nd option behind Luka Doncic and demote LeBron James to 3rd option clarified the Lakers’ pecking order for every player on the team, including the Big Three.

3. Taking & Making More Threes

…

JJ Redick has always wanted the Lakers to increase their 3-poimt attempts to at least 40 takes per game. During the last 10 games, the Lakers have dramatically increased their 3PA from 33.2 (#25) to 37.9 (#14) per game.

Even more importantly, the Lakers have been able to increase their 3PM over the last 10 games vs. earlier in the season from 11.7 (#23) to 14.3 (#9). That’s an increase in points generated by 3PM of 7.8 points per game.
Before the last 10 games, the Lakers consistently lost the 3-point battle by -5.1 points per game. During the last 10 games, however, LA turned tables and dominated the 3-point differential by a huge +11.4 points per game.

Transforming the Lakers from a bottom-10 3-point shooting team to a top-5 3-ball juggernaut in the middle of the season is unheard of but JJ Redick has suddenly pulled it off. The big question is how long can he sustain it?
The 43–25 Lakers have played a total of 68 games with 14 games remaining in the regular season. Over the last 10 games, they have 6 players who took more than 3.6 3PA per game and sank more than 1.4 3PM per game.

The Gabe Vincent trade for high-percentage 3-point shooter Luke Kennard was a major factor in the LA’s sudden embracing of the three. The trade finally gave the Lakers 2 lethal laser shooters who could space the floor.
JJ Redick has already shown interest in a 5-man small ball lineup that includes the Big Three with LeBron James at the five plus the Lakers’ elite duo of laser 3-point shooters Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura.

JJ transforming the Lakers from a bottom-10 to a top-5 3-point shooting juggernaut could be a massive difference maker in the playoffs. It could even change the Lakers’ plans for an extreme makeover next summer.

4. Sharing And Protecting Basketball

…

The Laker’s success both on offense and defense the last 10 games has been due to their increase in assists and decrease in turnovers. During the last 10 games, the Lakers assist-to-turnover ratio jumped from 1.7 to 2.2 per game.

After the late February 3-game losing streak, Redick told Doncic, Reaves, and James that they needed to shoot less and pass more to win and that the team was essentially unbeatable when they generate 30 assists in a game.
Besides increasing assists, the Lakers need to reduce turnovers, which can kill a team’s offense while putting stress on their defense. The top-5 teams with the best assist-to-turnover teams will have a ratio better than 2 to 1.

To the Lakers’ credit, they not only listened to Redick’s demand but actually started to immediately generate more assists and reduce team turnovers. Assist-to-turnover was a unique area that affects both offense and defense. During the last 10 games, the Lakers have averaged 27.7 assists per game (#11) vs. 25.2 (#21) for first 58 games and 12.5 turnovers (#5) vs. 14.8 (#19). Overall, the Lakers upped their assist-to-turnover ratio from 1.7 to 2.2.

Right now, the Lakers go into each game looking to generate 30 or more assists per game and limit their turnovers to fewer than 12 per game. After the last 10 games, they’re now at 27.7 assists and 12.5 turnovers per game.
Redick knows that optimizing sharing and moving the ball and limiting killer turnovers is a sure formula for winning basketball games. Hot as LA has been, there is still room for them to improve and get even better.

Dramatically increasing assists and decreasing turnovers could have been the most significant of the five major problems that JJ Redick solved that have transformed the Lakers’ offense and defense into Top-10 juggernauts.

5. Solidifying Center Rotation

…

The last of the five major problems that JJ Redick solved to transform the Lakers into legitimate contenders was to solidify what was a questionable center rotation headed by enigmatic Deandre Ayton into a plus rotation.

Through patience, communication, and holding players accountable, Redick has been able to get the best possible out of all three Lakers’ centers and has somehow molded them into a capable coherent center rotation.
Deandre Ayton may be on the verge of finally becoming a team-first player, Jaxson Hayes has become a highlight real and Luka Doncic favorite, and a healthy Maxi Kleber could be their missing floor spacer and rim protector.

Right now, Redick appears to be satisfied with a combination of center by committee where Ayton starts, Hayes backs him up, and Kleber fills in to make matchups work. As a group, they have all the requisite center skills.
The wild card for the Lakers’ center rotation is the the option of playing small ball with LeBron James as the five, which will likely be a major weapon the Lakers can turn to if they do not like the center matchups.

The recent renaissance of Deandre Ayton could be the final genius move by JJ Redick. If Ayton can really join the rest of the Lakers and play hard and focus on protecting the rim, setting screens, and attacking the boards. JJ has been patient but also demanding accountability from Deandre. This could be an amazing moment in Ayton’s career if he can follow through. We’ve already seen Deandre respond to help Lakers win last 2 games.

JJ Redick deserves kudos for a great job getting Ayton to accept his role on the Lakers and to integrate both Hayes and Kleber into the rotation. JJ has taken a weakness and possibly turned it into one of the Lakers’ strengths.

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6 Comments

LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

How Redick Suddenly Transformed Lakers Into Legitimate Contenders In 19 days, JJ Redick transformed the Lakers from a 34–24 team hanging onto the #6 seed in the West to a 43–25 team that could lock up the #3 seed and tiebreakers with #4, #5, and #6 seeds with a win tonight in… pic.twitter.com/Ee3mQwij6d— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2026
LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

How Redick Suddenly TransformedLakers Into Legitimate Contenders 1. Solving Lakers’ Big Three ProblemThe single biggest problem facing second-year head coach JJ Redick was figuring out how to make the Lakers Big Three of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James win the… pic.twitter.com/qEHkeFYyfa— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2026
LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

How Redick Suddenly Transformed Lakers Into Legitimate Contenders 2. Making LeBron James 3rd OptionWhen the Big Three is on the court together, JJ Redick has designated LeBron James as the Lakers’ 3rd highest usage player going forward to allow Austin Reaves to be the 2nd… pic.twitter.com/Ecee6AejCp— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2026
LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

How Redick Suddenly Transformed Lakers Into Legitimate Contenders 3. Taking & Making More ThreesJJ Redick has always wanted the Lakers to increase their 3-poimt attempts to at least 40 takes per game. During the last 10 games, the Lakers have dramatically increased their 3PA… pic.twitter.com/CeFEC1qw41— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2026
LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

How Redick Suddenly Transformed Lakers Into Legitimate Contenders 4. Sharing And Protecting BasketballThe Laker’s success both on offense and defense the last 10 games has been due to their increase in assists and decrease in turnovers. During the last 10 games, the Lakers… pic.twitter.com/B9057govjB— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2026
LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

How Redick Suddenly Transformed Lakers Into Legitimate Contenders 5. Solidifying Center RotationThe last of the five major problems that JJ Redick solved to transform the Lakers into legitimate contenders was to solidify what was a questionable center rotation headed by… pic.twitter.com/t27yKR1Uc2— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2026

LakerTom
1 month ago

The Lakers bench compared to the Rockets in clutch time last night pic.twitter.com/3NbCKibdXH— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) March 19, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

Lakers down 1 w/6mins remainingLook at Austin Reaves this entire possession In Durant’s chest and won’t cede a single inchForces KD into wild fadeawayCloses to Sheppard to prevent jumperCrashes down to dislodge Thompson for a possible ORebThis is All NBA defense pic.twitter.com/erYoeSMRlr— LAbound (@LAbound2) March 19, 2026

LakerTom
1 month ago

RE: Lakers & 3 seed. If they sweep their games against the 5 tankers (IND, WSH, BK, DAL, UTA) and just go *2-6* in their other 8 (MIA, ORL, DET, CLE, OKCx2, GS, PHX) that puts them at 51 wins. So, to catch them:HOU has to go 11-3, Denver 10-4, MIN 9-3.They're gonna be the 3 https://t.co/oFQNJO9LWN— nick wright (@getnickwright) March 19, 2026

LakerTom
1 month ago

The Lakers continue to roll for their SEVENTH straight win (10 of their last 11) and earn the tiebreaker over Houston! -LeBron: 30 Pts (13-14 FG), 5 Reb, 2 Ast-Luka: 40 Pts, 10 Ast, 9 Reb-Ayton: 16 Pts (8-10 FG), 3 BlkCelebrate now with @DuranSports on the ESPN LA app and… pic.twitter.com/IUlRtudEqn— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) March 19, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

Stacking good days out here 🤝 pic.twitter.com/jGUuCjVhli— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 19, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

Luka Doncic and LeBron James put on a SHOW to lead the Lakers to a win over the Rockets 🔥Luka: LeBron:40 PTS 30 PTS10 AST 5 REB9 REB 13-of-14 FGThe Lakers have now won 7 straight games! pic.twitter.com/ahaeZGdheU— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 19, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

LUKA DONCIC TONIGHT:40 POINTS10 ASSISTS 9 REBOUNDS 12/25 FGM7/17 3PM38 MINUTES pic.twitter.com/hFPXYZJkzD— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 19, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

LEBRON JAMES TONIGHT 👑 34 minutes 👑 30 points 👑 5 rebounds 👑 2 assists 👑 13/14 FGTKO-ED FATHER TIME 🥊 pic.twitter.com/ROlWa6RL1T— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) March 19, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

Austin Reaves vs Rockets:- 14 Points – 8 Assists- 3 Rebounds- 60 TS% pic.twitter.com/v2i5W41VtX— Laker Performances (@LALPerformance) March 19, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

unreal pic.twitter.com/lWhp3jVfWg— Coach Rome (@Rome_Beast) March 19, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

LeBron James' 6 dunks vs. Rockets key Lakers' 7th straight winhttps://t.co/uZGCwataJl— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 19, 2026

LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

Mark Walter making money moves 👀 https://t.co/k6hnQODahp— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) March 18, 2026
LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

🚨 Lakers are opening up sponsorship rights for their jersey patch next season 🚨Bibigo paid $100 million for a 5 year global marketing partnership in 2021Which brand do you want to see next? 👀 pic.twitter.com/ndTmzR1OSx— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 18, 2026

LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

To add to this On the season, Luka is – Top 10 in steals – Top 7 in charges drawn – 95th percentile in shots contested per 100 possessions- 87th percentile in rim contests- allowing 0.84 PPP in 109 isolations this szn, a hairline below Amen Thompson and above Mcdaniels…— Laker$ided (@Lakersided310) March 18, 2026
LakerTom
1 month ago

Luka Doncic’s defensive improvement this season has been insane- 0.84 PPP allowed in isolations (109 possessions)- Top 10 in Steals- Top 7 in Charges Drawn- 95th percentile in shots contested- 87th percentile in rim contests(Via @KellyIko ) pic.twitter.com/9hkin1Aaj9— NBA Base (@TheNBABase) March 18, 2026

LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Clutch time defense has been huge for JJ Redick and the Lakers all season long.

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the best clutch time defensive teams in the NBA. At no point did I believe I’d be writing the words best, Lakers, and defensive in the same sentence in 2026, but here we are. On Monday night, that clutch defense once again showed up for the Lake Show. In 3 minutes and 45 seconds of clutch time, the Rockets scored zero baskets. None. Not one!

Two Amen Thompson free throws were the only points the Rockets scored in that stretch; by the time Kevin Durant scored a layup in the final 30 seconds, it was no longer a clutch game. JJ Redick and the Lakers completely shut down one of their biggest competitors in the West, and it wasn’t a fluke — the Lakers are the sixth-best clutch time defensive team in the league.

In fact, they did the exact same thing literally two days earlier against the Denver Nuggets; in overtime, the Nuggets scored two baskets, an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer and a Nikola Jokic layup. That second basket probably wouldn’t have happened if Deandre Ayton had grabbed the ball after he blocked Jokic the first time, but I digress. Still pretty impressive.

In short, that’s two MVP-led offenses the Lakers have neutralized in back-to-back games. It’s a trend, and it’s a thrilling trend for Lakers fans. Dare I say it’s the kind of trend that wins teams playoff series? I do dare! But in the meantime, it’s just an all-around encouraging sign that JJ Redick has gotten buy-in from this team on the defensive end.

Lakers completely shut down Kevin Durant and Rockets offense

Who would have thought the Los Angeles Lakers defense would have Kevin Durant venting about how he doesn’t even want to be a superstar anymore? Not I! But that’s where we are now. I don’t want to speak for Durant (I wouldn’t dare, actually), but this doesn’t sound like a guy who would be thrilled to play the Lakers in the postseason.

“I don’t know man, maybe I just need to get out the way, go sit in the corner. Set some screens, space the floor…….”

Luka Doncic and the Lakers defense got Kevin Durant contemplating life as a role player pic.twitter.com/E9PlogEoeJ

— HeroOfTheDay (@Hero_OfThe_Day) March 17, 2026

Every team goes through ups and downs over the course of an 82-game slog, and the Lakers defense might come back to earth before the playoffs start. Even if that does happen, I think this stretch of high-level defense (both in the clutch and not) is enough of a sign to believe they can hang with most Western Conference teams in the playoffs, which is more than I would have ventured to say a month ago.

LakerTom
1 month, 1 week ago

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

HOUSTON — A few hours before the Lakers’ gritty 100-92 win over the Rockets on Monday evening, head coach JJ Redick spoke at length about the responsibility of his players to be stars in their defensive roles. That would be the theme of the night.

The overwhelming takeaway from the contest was Los Angeles’ ability to neutralize Kevin Durant in the halfcourt, limiting the future Hall of Famer to just 1-for-5 shooting in the second half, with six turnovers. But that approach took more than just aggressive play-calls and schemes from the coaching staff to be successful. The Lakers have won nine out of their last 10, with the league’s No. 2 defense, and are outscoring opponents by 14.6 points per 100 possessions. They’re playing their best brand of basketball at the right time, and Luka Dončić, for all of his offensive brilliance, remains a critical figure at the other end.

“Overall he’s been a good defender for us,” Redick said after the game. “When he gets switched on to the ball — I don’t know what the updated numbers are after the last three games — it’s been under 0.9 [points allowed per possession]. It’s been one of the best, if not the best of all our perimeter guys.

“He’s been more active with rotations and being physical with our switching groups. With him, it’s to be solid, engaged, do our rules, and he’s smart and can execute that at a high level. When he’s fully on defensively, he can guard the basketball. We’ve seen him do it against everybody in this league. We trust him.”

The narrative of Dončić’s defense and the evolution of his ability to contribute positively has been trending up over the last few seasons. It had been a consistent knock against him since entering the league nearly a decade ago, and with the 2024 Finals when Dončić was routinely targeted by the Boston Celtics. His defense became an inflection point for both him and the Dallas Mavericks as an organization. (Dončić’s defensive shortcomings were also reportedly one of the reasons for the silliest trade in professional sports history, but that’s neither here nor there.)

His arrival in Los Angeles, joining an offensive-leaning Austin Reaves and an aging LeBron James, didn’t come without questions about the Lakers’ viability. Adding Deandre Ayton in the offseason, another scoring big, also gave the impression that the organization was eschewing one side of the ball for the other. On the season, they rank 20th in defensive rating, a reminder of the difficulties associated with roster construction.

But Dončić, who reportedly lost over 20 pounds during the offseason, came into training camp with an improved physique and conditioning, putting him in prime position to function as a key cog in Redick’s shape-shifting defense.

On paper, the Lakers don’t have a plethora of defensive specialists. This isn’t a great rebounding or shot-blocking group (25th in blocks, 28th in rebounds) by any means. And outside of Marcus Smart, there is a dearth of physical point-of-attack aggressors. What Redick has done to account for the lack of roster tools is compose a scheme good enough to keep opposing offenses honest.

The Lakers’ defense is a true sum of its parts. It relies heavily on zone (fourth in frequency, per Synergy tracking); encourages switching to slow teams down (second most in the league); keeps multiple bodies within a decent proximity of one another (ninth in medium defensive shell usage). But the Lakers are also hell-bent on helping each other — top-10 in rotations, second in digs and sixth in loading up in the paint.

An understanding of Redick’s scheme means contextualizing Dončić’s defensive skill set, highlighting what he is good at and attempting to mask what he’s deficient in. Contesting shots, arguably the second-most important aspect of defense outside of positioning, is a strength of his, with Dončić in the 95th percentile in shots contested per 100 possessions and 87th percentile in rim contests. This particularly manifests itself as an isolation defender, when teams try to pick at him; Dončić is allowing just 0.844 points per possession in 109 isolations this year, a hairline below Amen Thompson, and a better mark than Jaden McDaniels and OG Anunoby. He is now quick enough to move his feet with ball-handlers in space and has an improved burst, which helps with his reaction time.

(It’s important to note that this is all happening at the same time as one of the most heliocentric seasons in recent NBA history. Dončić is seventh in touches per game, second in time of possession, third in usage rate among players who have logged at least 1,000 minutes and, oh yeah, first in the league in scoring. Combine that with some of his advanced metrics — ninth in DARKO, seventh in EPM, sixth in LEBRON — and the sheer fact that Dončić is no longer simply taking plays off on defense is worth mentioning.)

Trusting Dončić in defensive space, combined with Redick placing him on low-usage forwards and standstill shooters, affords the best version of the Slovenian, allowing him to take chances in passing lanes. His 4.2 deflections per 100 possessions rank in the 82nd percentile, according to Databallr, and a healthy amount of steals, blocks and a positive stop rate ensure he’s not regarded as a weak link in the Lakers’ setup.