EL SEGUNDO — When it comes to the Lakers’ defense and their improvement on that end of the court, multiple people within the organization point to a responsibility that can be in the hands of several players on any given possession.
“The low man and the low-man presence and the high-shift presence that we talked about all season, that, to me, is what’s probably improved the most,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said after the team’s practice on Wednesday. “Our low man is consistently in there.”
The low man – the defender closest to the rim on the weak side of the floor – is usually responsible for providing the first wave of help defense when the opposing team’s offense either penetrates the defense or appears to be about to.
The Lakers have been getting better performances from the players in this position more often, helping them to their best defensive stretch of the season so far.
Statistically, the Lakers’ three best defensive performances have come in their last three games: the 107-98 home win against Portland on Dec. 8; the 97-87 road loss to Minnesota on Dec. 13 and Sunday’s 116-110 home win against Memphis.
The Lakers’ defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) in those games, according to Cleaning The Glass:
• Portland: 100;
• Minnesota: 99 (season-best mark);
• Memphis: 100.9.
The Lakers didn’t record a single-game defensive rating below 105 this season, according to Cleaning The Glass, until the victory over the Trail Blazers.
“We’re just covering for each other,” All-Star big man Anthony Davis said. “We [weren’t] having a lot of that. A guy gets beat, it wasn’t a guy there to protect him. We’ve got some practice time to kind of take care of that. And it’s shown and translated onto the court.”
The Lakers’ defense will be tested when they travel to Sacramento to play the Kings at Golden 1 Center on Thursday night and again Saturday afternoon.
In addition to Davis not switching on to perimeter players as often defensively and playing in coverage more frequently, the Lakers’ improved presence from their low man has led to better rim protection.
The Lakers allowed opponents to shoot just 50% within six feet of the rim when a defender is nearby in their last three games, the league’s best defensive mark in that small-sample size, after allowing 66% shooting on these shots (ranked No. 24) over their first 24 games.
“That’s what we do in the practice, literally, [work on] our low man, help defense and all that,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “We have [the] potential to be a good defense team. Low man’s going to be really important, especially with me. I’ve been in a lot of low man side, so I’m more like watching film with the coaches, and then trying to make sure I’m in the right position.”
Bronny James, the Lakers’ second-round pick from this past June’s NBA draft, will play in the G League Winter Showcase in Orlando, Florida.
James, the 20-year-old son of Lakers star LeBron James, has been back and forth between the Lakers and the organization’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, as a rookie.
He’s averaged 14.4 points (37.7% shooting), 2.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in five games with South Bay.
His best performances have come in the last 1½ weeks after returning from a bruised left heel injury that sidelined him for three weeks: 16 points (6-of-15 shooting) and four rebounds in a victory over the San Diego Clippers on Dec. 7; 30 points (13-of-23 shooting) in a loss to the Valley Suns last Thursday; 16 points (6-of-20 shooting) in another loss to the Suns on Friday.
“Where I’ve seen, on court in the G League, I think some decision-making with the basketball, being on ball and making good decisions both as a scorer and as a playmaker,” Redick said of Bronny. “Continuing to see the flashes defensively of what we’re really excited about. What we’ve stressed with him throughout the summer, preseason, early season was getting himself into elite shape so that he could be a high-level impact player on the defensive end. He has the heel injury and has to lose some of that momentum. We’re excited about what he’s done over the last two games and looking forward to see what he does in the lineup.”
The annual G League showcase, which was previously in Las Vegas before moving to Florida, runs from Thursday-Sunday.
“I’ve told him this, he’s got to get to the point where it’s OK to fail,” Redick said of Bronny. “I think he has a real reservation to fail. A lot of that is he’s had a camera on him since when he was 8 years old. I can’t imagine Knox and Kai (Redick’s sons) having cameras at their rec league games.
“I think once he develops that, he’s gonna take off, like literally take off. He will do anything he asks to do, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. It’s just really part of player development, not just the physical skills and the physical development, but it’s the mental development as well.”
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento
TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet, 710 AM
