Don’t look now, but the Los Angeles Lakers are beginning to hit their stride.
Winners of five of their last six games, the team has been able to leap over their initial rough patch and find their on-court groove.
After a disappointing loss to the Orlando Magic, in which they gave up 130 points in regulation, the team bounced back against Miami. LeBron James continued his absolutely dominant production, and reminded his former team and the NBA just how good he still is.
ADVANCED BOX SCORE RECAP:
Game MVP: LeBron James: 51 Points | 8 Rebounds | 3 Assists | 44.9 Control% | 72% TS% | +17.2 AuPM | +12.9 Points Added | 17.0 Box Creation
3 OBSERVATIONS:
LeBron James, good at basketball.
Not that there needed to be a reminder, but the former finals MVP made damn sure the league knows he still can switch into another gear at the drop of a dime.
James was absolutely dominant against his former team, and continues his overall scorching trend of late. In his last five games, James has averaged 33 points, 7.2 rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal to go along with 57 percent shooting from three. Get this man a bottle of Sprite.
James’ 3-point shooting in particular has been something of a roller coaster this season. Accounting for the highest segment of his shot profile in his career (26 percent) James’ hot streak has more than made up for his slow start from behind the arc.
On the season James has now creeped into the 75th percentile in 3-point efficiency among forwards according to Cleaning the Glass.
KCP Back?
It can be argued that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope more than any player has been victim to role change this season. Darting off floppy sets and curling off Brook Lopez’s mountainous body for jumpers last season, has been traded in for lackluster motion off the bench this year.
Fortunately for the team, Caldwell-Pope has begun to hit his stride, and his shots of late.
In his last five games, Pope has converted his 3-ball at a blazing 44 percent clip. Though it is still worth noting, he is only in the 33rd percentile among wings in the area compared to the 71st last season.
The allowance of more minutes besides James on the floor has certainly helped Caldwell-Pope’s uptick as he has been one of the most recent beneficiaries of James’ Jupiter-like gravity.
Tyson Chandler and the art of the Offensive Rebound
Tyson Chandler may be 36-years-old, but he still sniffs out offensive rebounds like a scrappy young pup.
Chandler’s tip-outs have become a thing of legend in his career, and the Lakers are the newest benefactor. After joining the team the veteran has provided an immediate impact. In only 23 minutes off the bench against Miami, Chandler snagged eleven rebounds and was a +21.
On the season, when Chandler has been on the floor the team has a stellar 35.1 percent offensive rebound percentage. When he has been off, that rate drops to 25.8 percent.
2 QUESTIONS:
What can the Lakers do to get Brandon Ingram going?
Brandon Ingram is not having a counting stats problem, he is having a utilization problem.
The difference is distinct, and vital in getting Ingram to the next stage of his development. Many are quick to dismiss his fit next to James, but few have mentioned his role. Often primarily used as a lead creator out of a pick and roll, or in isolation, his attempts have not been in optimal spots.
His most efficient play types have been in finishing overall, not creating. Yet, the team continues to put the third-year player in unfortunate situations. Running simple off-motion sets, putting him in screen action with James or just creating some level of spot-up chances will do wonders.
Once they begin optimizing his skill-set more astutely, expect his efficiency to also improve. Mike Garcia wrote a great piece on his shot profile for this very site.
Is it time to make a change to the starting lineup?
While the team has had an aforementioned nice stretch of play, the starting five continues to struggle.
The group of Lonzo Ball, Ingram, James, Kyle Kuzma and JaVale McGee have a net rating of -2.3 in 297 possessions. The group is also sporting a 112.7 defensive rating and are allowing opponents to shoot 55.6 percent at the rim.
While a change is likely not going to happen anytime soon considering their recent success, it is something that should be monitored.
One possible swap within the group could be flipping Kuzma for Josh Hart, as the latter has been absolutely killing nets from three and recently rekindled his love for defending bigger players in the post.
1 PREDICTION:
The Lakers’ schedule has been noticeably lighter of late, but do have some tough games approaching against Indiana, Denver and San Antonio.
Although those teams are solid, the purple and gold have been playing some of their best basketball of the early season and should climb the standings even further.
In a Western Conference that has no idea what it’s doing, the Lakers, despite their drama-laced start to the season, could very well be a top four team by the end of week.
*Statistics and images courtesy of: NBA.com and Cleaning the Glass.
(Featured photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
