As of this article, the Lakers are one of only four teams yet to register a win this season.

Los Angeles was a mere Patty Mills miss away from notching that illustrious first win after a thrilling fourth quarter comeback. Yet after blowing a late overtime lead, Mills did in fact make that shot, and the Lakers continue to be winless.

The offense continued it’s scoring barrage, but the defense has yet been able to stop hemorrhaging points.

ADVANCED BOX SCORE RECAP:

Via: Jacob Goldstein
Game MVP: LaMarcus Aldridge: 37 Points | 10 Rebounds | 5 Assists | 29.5 Control% | 61.8 TS% | +6.2 AuPM | +5.4 Points Added | 4.1 Box Creation

3 OBSERVATIONS:

Closing Out

A lot has been made of the Lakers’ front court deficiencies thus far, which may be fair. The team is currently 24th in opponent offensive rebounds per game (12.3) and 21st in opponent’s points in the paint (52.7). The current front court depth simply has left much to be desired at the moment.

Yet not enough attention has been paid to the team’s perimeter defense, which may be an even more glaring issue.

The team has struggled mightily getting out to shooters, as they are currently 28th in opponent 3-point percentage (41.1%) and 27th in opponent 3-pointers made per game (14.7).

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There could be multiple explanations for this. One, the team is getting beat at the point of attack as wall as in high screen and roll possessions. This initial breakdown creates advantageous 5-on-4’s for their opponents who can then simply kick it out to shooters. Second, the team is losing track of their man and offering poor close outs — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is guilty of both of these in the clip above.

The Spurs took advantage of this all night, converting their three point attempts at a 55.6 percent clip (excluding heaves).

Rusty Around The Edges

Last season the Lakers had only two players in their starting lineup who graded out a B- or better in the BBall-Index‘s Perimeter Defense category: Lonzo Ball and Caldwell-Pope. With Ball still slowly returning his old self, the team’s perimeter defensive talent simply has been ineffective.

According to Synergy, the combination of Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart have defended 27 spot up attempts this season. Their opponents have converted 15.

The team’s wings simply must do a better job closing space, and offering better contests.

Free Throws

The Lakers have lost the free throw battle in all three of their contests this season. Against the Spurs, the team was out shot at the charity stripe by 12.

The disparity so far this season seemingly reached it’s boiling point when head coach Luke Walton nearly casted curses on the refereeing staff and their families in a fiery post-game video.

It has been head-scratching to see a discrepancy considering the Lakers’ aggression in taking it to the rack. The team is currently tops in the league in frequency of attempts within four feet (48.1 percent) according to Cleaning the Glass. Their drives however have not resulted in trips to the line.

The Lakers are currently only 24th in the league in free throw rate through three games. Even more startling is the fact that on the team’s 110 drives, the team has only drawn six free throws. While not worst in the league in this sense, it still is pretty telling of their current lack of calls.

2 QUESTIONS:

Has Lonzo Ball been the team’s best outside shooter?

Although difficult to believe for those who have not watched a lot of Lakers’ basketball, Lonzo Ball can shoot. While proven to be inconsistent, there is a difference between players who shoot and have shown capability of converting, versus those who strictly refuse to let it fly [editor’s note: also known as cowards].

Through three games, Ball has let it fly, and it is reaching the bottom of the net.

According to Synergy, Ball has had 11 spot up opportunities this season and is yielding 1.63 points per possession on these looks. While still very early, and the sample still very small, this number currently is in the 94th percentile of the league.

Josh Hart has also been excellent in his spot up looks, generating 1.75 points per possession, but has only six attempts so far. The two guards have easily been the team’s best shooters in their early contests.

How bad has Kyle Kuzma been on defense?

Kyle Kuzma had a much needed break out game offensively against the Spurs. Pouring in 37 points with a 69.1 true shooting percent the Lakers’ twenty-three-year old finally looked back to his old self.

On the other side of the ball, he unfortunately continues to have severe struggles. Nearly poor across the board, Kuzma has failed to find a comfort zone on the perimeter and the interior. When playing the five in the initial two games, Kuzma was faced with defending the post which he notably had issues doing.

According to Cranjis (Tim), when looking at his DPOE, Kuzma has conceded an extra 5.4 points in the post versus what an average defender would be expected to concede on the same opportunities.

His spot up defense on the perimeter has not been much better. Included earlier in the team’s aforementioned struggles defending behind the arc, Kuzma might be the worst of the bunch. He has defended six attempts, and has allowed 2.16 points per possession. In simpler terms, his opponents have only missed one spot up against his contests.

1 PREDICTION:

Like nearly every team in the NBA, the Lakers will soon see some normalization. Despite not having the most talented 3-point shooters in the league, the mere frequency in attacking the rim will create more opportunities. The simple odds are these shots will eventually go down, even if it is only getting hot for a game or so.

The same goes for their free throw rate, the combination of Walton’s criticism and their constant drives will eventually yield more trips — hopefully helping result in the team’s first win.

*Statistics and Video courtesy of: NBA.com, Synergy, Cleaning the Glass, and helped compiled by Ben Holz and Huzaifa Patel.

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

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